Of Axles and Hackers
by Cyberbird
Summary: Andrea Hammond was a normal 18 year old girl... about to graduate, and slightly obsessed with her computer. In steps a giant alien robot, and her world will never again be the same. OCOC friendship/fluff.  Movie tie-in. Repost/Edit of old story.
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: Having seen the newest Transformers I quickly realized that, yes, I still love this series, and yes, I should go back and edit / finish my own stories. So here I am, editing. This is a repost of a story I wrote in 2007 after the first Transformers film came out and initially, it was located in the Transformers/Beast Wars section of . Now that they have this new section, I felt it was time for a move. This story is COMPLETE! So expect regular updates, twice a week at least, maybe more! Enjoy! **

**AN: Hey all, thanks for giving this story a chance. This is something I have been thinking up since I first saw the movie a week after it came out. It has taken me months to work out the story and to actually begin writing, so, let's see how it goes. P.S: In regards to the title and any future use of the hacker lifestyle and activities: I myself am not a hacker, and know little to nothing about the actual process of hacking. I am a writer, however, and have decided to make crap up simply because I can. So please, no flames about that particular part of the story. I know what I'm writing is most probably wrong, and I don't need someone to get upset and tell me about it. So, if I have offended any true hackers out there, I am sorry, but please don't let that stop you from reading the story. Give it a chance!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any additions to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize. The end. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Of First Meetings<strong>

Andrea Hammond sighed irritably as she glanced at the clock on the wall to her right only to see that it was nearing 10:30 P.M. The small computer repair shop that she worked at had long since closed, but she had stayed late working on debugging a particularly messed up computer, only to make very little progress. Now, if she didn't start cleaning up and head home she would definitely miss the last bus.

Turning back to the piece of crap computer in front of her, she scowled at it. Normally she had very little trouble repairing the many computers brought in because of viruses, messed up programming, or software problems. Then again, most people were smart enough to bring in their computers before the problem was so severe that they could no longer even turn the thing on. She started working on this particular computer as soon as she had arrived that afternoon around 3:30; and now, a whole seven hours later, she had managed to get the thing running and run a diagnostic, but very little else. On top of everything the data she received from the diagnostic was disheartening at best. The computer was so riddled with viruses and other software issues that she would have to give it a complete overhaul, and then start from scratch with the software. The client will be lucky if she is able to salvage any of their personal files. But at this point in time, she couldn't seem to muster up a single ounce of sympathy.

Quickly shutting down the computer and then writing a note to herself as a reminder for what still needed to be done, Andrea grabbed her backpack and her purse and left the crowded back room of the small shop. Entering into the front of the store, she flicked the switch that turned off the lights in the back and proceeded to check the register before heading out and locking the front door. Glancing at the watch on her right hand she cursed furiously when she saw the time. She was going to miss the bus.

Taking off down the street Andrea ran for all she was worth, attempting to catch her ride home. Turning a corner she gave a wordless cry of frustration as she saw the brake lights of the bus go off as it lurched forward. Putting on a final burst of speed she ran forward in an attempt to catch up with the steadily accelerating bus.

"Hey! Stop! Stop the bus! Please stop!" Only when the bus turned a corner onto one of the main streets, slightly more congested than the one she was currently on, did she stop running. "Damn!" She gasped for breath as she leaned over, resting her hands on her knees. "This day…just keeps…getting…better and better."

Standing up, she ran a hand through her straight, chin length, disheveled brown hair. Hiking her backpack up more securely onto her shoulders she then went about straightening her clothes and brushing nonexistent dirt off of her figure. All the while mumbling to herself.

"Ok, Andi. What are you going to do now? Can't call the parental units, seeing as they're out of town and won't be back till tomorrow. In that case, try Tori."

Pulling out her cell, she dialed her friend's number and waited as it rang. "C'mon, c'mon, pick up!" Several rings later, Tori's voice came through the line as her voicemail picked up. Disconnecting, she sighed in frustration. "Ok, plan B: walk home with trusty mace in hand."

Twenty minutes later, Andi found herself entering a well-lit community park. The park itself was known for being a safe area, with park security patrolling it 24/7. Andi knew the park like the back of her hand, her own home within walking distance of it. However, this fact alone did nothing to alleviate the uneasy feeling which settled in her stomach as she proceeded forward.

"Ok, whoever thought up Plan B is an idiot."

Gripping the small can of mace in her hand as a reassurance, she continued further into the park, leaving the concrete path to cut through one of the many open field areas. In an attempt to fill the silence and dismiss the uneasy feeling which had taken residence in her stomach, Andrea began mumbling to herself.

"Well, this is fun…right. Why don't I just make a sign and put it on my back. Attention would be rapists and muggers: Have at it." Chuckling ruefully she continued onward, periodically checking her surroundings.

"Note to self: buy a car…" she snorted. "With what money? Get a job they tell me. It'll be fun they tell me. A good way to make some extra cash…what cash? Where the hell is all this cash I'm supposed to have been making? Almost three fricken years I've been working there and I have absolutely nothing to show for it!"

An odd sound, similar to a plane flying past, caused Andrea to pause in her rant. Stopping where she was she glanced around trying to locate the origin of the noise which was steadily getting louder, now more like a dull roar. She stood now in the center of the barren field. Not finding anything at ground level that could possibly be making the noise she glanced upward, only to have her breath catch in her throat.

There, hundreds of feet above her, was a giant ball of flame hurtling through the sky and heading straight for her. For a split second, Andrea's mind went blank. Her eyes were focused solely on the flaming ball of death heading towards her. In that split second, which seemed to last for eternity, a single thought crossed her mind. "Oh shit."

The moment passed quickly enough and the next second Andi was aware of her body diving to the side. In a seemingly gut reaction she had thrown herself out of the way and curled into a ball on the ground, in a last ditch effort to save her own life. Covering her head with her arms and shutting her eyes tightly, Andi couldn't stop the fearful cry that passed from her lips. No sooner had she dived for cover than did the flying ball of fire impact the earth, causing the ground she was lying on to shake violently. The initial crash and shaking of the ground was accompanied by a violent wave of wind rushing over her and a cloud of dirt and dust falling upon her. Then, everything was quiet.

She remained still for several seconds, listening to her own heart beating furiously within her ears. Her breath came in erratic, shaky huffs. Her whole body was shaking as she breathed deeply, trying to calm her frantic pulse. As her pulse and breathing returned to normal, she uncurled herself from the ball she had been lying in. Pushing herself upwards onto her hands and knees, she slowly stood. As she did so a layer of dirt fell off of her onto the ground. Brushing herself off she turned and studied the large crater some twenty feet from where she stood.

Cautiously walking closer to the edge of the crater she stopped and stared when she reached the edge. The former flaming ball of death now, upon closer inspection, appeared to be a large metal sphere. Through the steam and still rising dust she was able to make out what seemed to be etchings of some sort covering the outside of the sphere.

Wanting a closer look, Andrea carefully lowered herself into the crater and approached the strange object. Standing inches from the sphere, she was surprised to find that there was actually very little heat radiating out from the metal. The strange etchings she had seen through the dust now took on definite shapes and patterns, none of which she recognized. Biting her lip, she cautiously raised her left hand and gently touched one of the etchings on the metal with the tips of her fingers. When nothing happened she rested her palm on the pleasantly warm metal. Running her hand over the metal she frowned when her fingers met a deeper and more defined line than on any of the other etched characters. Poking at the line in an attempt to examine it, she jumped when the line cracked open and the sphere began to expand and change shape.

Moving away quickly Andrea watched wide-eyed as a figure unfolded itself from the sphere. The sound of metal sliding against metal, and the turning of gears and hydraulics filled her ears. With morbid fascination she watched as a robotic figure slowly unfolded itself. She watched as pieces of shiny silver metal formed two arms and legs, a torso and finally a head. With surprising fluidity and grace the giant robot shifted itself out of it's sphere form and stood; then in a surprisingly human gesture, stretched.

Andi stared at the giant robot which now stood about three times her own height, around 17 feet tall, maybe taller. He, at least she assumed it was a male, took a step forward and she was forced to take a step back to avoid getting stepped on.

In the process of moving out of the way she tripped and fell back onto her butt, grunting as she hit the ground. Her sudden movement and noise caught the attention of the robot who had up until that moment seemed to not even realize she was there. Startled, he looked down at her and caught and held her wide-eyed gaze. Russet eyes and bright blue optics met and held as the robot crouched down to get a closer look at her.

Andi's heart beat furiously in her chest as the being knelt before her. The closer he moved, the farther away she tried to scoot. However, soon the wall of the crater stopped any further movement on her part. Unsure of what was to happen next, she held her breath as the robot placed his arms on either side of her body and leaned in close until their heads were mere inches apart. His bright blue optics scanned her face, and then moved down the rest of her body. Returning to catch her gaze, Andi nearly laughed despite herself when his head cocked to the side in an expressly curious and innocent fashion.

It was that one strange, yet completely _human_ action that compelled Andi into action more than anything else. While most of her mind was yelling at her to run, she could not bring herself to move. That action, more than anything else, made her believe that this being meant her no harm; and seemed just as curious about her as she was about it. Opening her mouth to speak she was cut off before she could get the first syllable out.

"Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm," the robot said.

Andi was shocked into silence.

First and foremost because not only had this strange being spoken, but he had spoken in English. Secondly, because of his voice; it had been deep with a metallic hint to it but also soft and gentle.

Pushing herself up slightly, Andi mirrored his former position and tilted her head slightly her brows furrowing in confusion. "You speak English?" She whispered softly. He nodded his head but did not reply verbally.

Gathering her courage, she spoke again. "W-who _are_ you? _What_ are you?"

He stared at her for several moments before opening his mouth to give a reply. "I…" he stopped suddenly when a siren was heard from nearby. Up until that moment, Andi herself had been unaware of anything but the being in front of her. Now she could hear the steadily approaching emergency sirens.

"I must go."

Andi jumped slightly when her new friend made to stand up. Scrambling to her own feet she watched as he prepared to leave the crater and she presumed run off into the night. Too curious for her own good and desperately wanting the answers to her questions she had no time to think about the next words that exited her mouth.

"Wait! Don't go!" Her sudden shout caused her new friend to pause in his ascent out of the crater, and to glance back at her. He shook his head in the negative.

"I must."

"Then take me with you! Please!"

Pausing once again he turned to her and studied her for a moment, seemingly looking for any sign that she was wavering in her request. Another loud siren broke his gaze and before Andi could register what was happening, he knelt in front of her and gently picked her up in his two hands. One metal hand wrapped gently around her waist, the other formed a seat for her to sit on. Lifting her off the ground he held her securely to his chest before stepping out of the crater and taking off into the night.

Andi could do nothing but hold on and enjoy the ride.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticisms only please, no flames. Flames will be used to make cookies for my other reviewers. - Thanks for reading!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**EDIT: Chapter 2 of the repost! Enjoy!**

**AN: Thanks so much to all who have read the first chapter, and to those of you continuing to read this one! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any additions to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize. The end. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Of Introductions and Explanations<strong>

Andrea had done many things of questionable intelligence in her life. When she was six she had tried to paper machete the cat. At eight she had decided that she could attach herself to a kite and fly, which had ended with her braking her arm. At twelve, she had completed her first hack, an experience that would change her life and help shape her into the person she was today. In the years following, she would crack into many of the highest security networks, simply to see if she could. Yet despite how insane or foolhardy those previous events were, the situation she currently found herself in took the cake.

A quarter of an hour ago, Andi had nearly been made into road kill by a 17-foot tall alien robot. During a sudden lapse of sanity, she had asked said robot to take her with him as he ran off into the night, to escape the oncoming emergency units heading towards the crash site. Now she found herself in said robots arms, racing through the park, heading for an overpass several yards ahead of where they were currently standing behind a small grove of trees.

At some point while they were running, well he was running she was holding on for dear life, her new friend had adjusted her position so she would not fall out of his arms as he ran. She now had her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, carefully avoiding the many wires found there, while he held her to his chest. Glancing up into his face, she watched fascinated, studying his facial features. Mostly, she was surprised that he even had facial features to begin with. She had always imagined a robot to be unable to express feelings with their faces, but now realized she was most definitely wrong. His face was comprised up of many separate metallic pieces which were each able to move separate of one another. Currently the two pieces above his eyes, eyebrows she realized, were furrowed in concentration. The pieces forming his mouth were clenched together as he studied his surroundings.

She was startled slightly when he glanced down at her, catching her staring at him. Blushing slightly in embarrassment of being caught ogling, she smiled slightly then glanced away. Moments later they were sprinting out of the tree line and descending into the dried up creak that went under the overpass, which would hide them from view for the time being. Crouching down, her new friend set her gently on the ground before situating himself under the overpass. The two sat in silence for several moments before Andi grew frustrated and spoke up.

"So…who are you?"

Pulling his gaze away from the entrance of the overpass, the robot shifted so he was facing her and spoke softly.

"My name is Axle. I am an autonomous robotic organism, or Autobot, sent to Earth to perform reconnaissance, searching for any signs of Decepticon activity. Who are you?"

Andi's mind raced with questions, the leading two being what were Autobots and Decepticons? Pushing the questions to the back of her mind for the time being she introduced herself to Axle.

"My name is Andrea Hammond. My friends call me Andi. Welcome to Tranquility, Nevada, Axle." The two studied each other for several seconds until they were once again interrupted by the sound of sirens in the distance. Andrea sighed and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. Looking up at Axle she frowned in thought. "We can't stay here. Whoever responded to your crash site are going to be searching all over for you, the park isn't safe. Unfortunately, you are going to be hard to hide."

"Not so, Andrea Hammond. We Autobots are very good at hiding. I merely need to find a suitable form to transform into."

"Just Andrea, or Andi. And, transform?"

Axle nodded then motioned for her to wait where she was as he slowly crept out from under the overpass, being careful to stay low to the ground. Andi watched from the mouth of the overpass as Axle positioned himself on the slope leading up toward the road overhead. He waited several minutes, watching several cars pass, a VW bug, a truck, another truck, then a blue blur. This must have been what Axle was waiting for, because there was a flash that forced Andi to cover her eyes, and then silence. Uncovering her eyes, she gasped at the sight before her.

There, resting on the hill, was a blue and white striped 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe. "No way." Moving closer Andi felt an excited shiver race up her spine. "Axle? That's you, right?" In answer, the driver's side door opened, an obvious invite for Andi to get in.

Andi grinned widely as she carefully set her bags in the passenger's seat before situating herself in the driver's seat. Buckling herself in, her grin widened into a full-blown smile as she examined the seemingly brand spanking new black leather interior. "Excellent choice, Axle. This is incredible." She ran her hands over the steering wheel reverently, and jumped slightly as the engine started on its own.

The radio turned on, and Axle's voice sounded throughout the car. "Where to?"

Thinking for a moment, she finally answered. "For right now we just need a place to lay low from the authorities and talk. Actually, we are probably safest talking while you drive around, so go ahead and explore the town. Oh, but be careful about the speed limits and things. We don't need to be pulled over right now."

Taking her advice, Axle moved forward onto the road, and headed off into the night. They drove in silence for a moment, before he addressed her again. "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"What don't I want to ask you, is more like it. Well, I guess you could start by telling me a little more about yourself. Where did you come from? You mentioned Autobots and Decepticons, what or who, are they?"

"I come from a planet known as Cybertron, located several billion light years away from your own system. Three hundred thousand or so Earth years ago, a war broke out on Cybertron between two factions of Cybertronians: the Autobots, and the Decepticons. The Autobots, the group I am a part of, are led by Optimus Prime, and we seek to protect. The Decepticons on the other hand seek to destroy. They broke from our ways, and are led by the destructive Megatron."

"What started the war?"

Axel was silent for a moment, "…I'm not entirely sure how the war began. There are many different versions told. I was still a sparkling when it did…equivalent to a human 6 year old. However, after Cybertron was destroyed, the war continued because of the Allspark."

"Allspark? What's that?"

"The Allspark is the giver of all life. When Cybertron was destroyed, the Allspark was sent into space in an attempt to keep it out of Decepticon hands. The Decepticons wish to use it to take over the universe. The race is now on in an attempt to find it once again. We Autobots hope to use it to restore Cybertron."

"So why are you, specifically, on Earth? You said something about reconnaissance earlier."

"That's correct. I'm a recon scout. It is my specialty. I have been traversing this solar system for some time, per the order of my commanding officer. I have been searching for any signs of Decepticon activity."

Andi's thoughts raced as she processed the information she had been given. Staring at the blue glow coming from the dashboard, she easily lost herself in her thoughts. It was hard to imagine that Axle and his people, or species, or whatever you wanted to call it have been fighting a war that has lasted for nearly a million years. That was so long, yet she suspected that time seemed to move differently for Axle. If she were to judge by his story Axle would appear to be near half a million years old himself, if not older; and judging by the way he spoke, she would guess that he was not one of the oldest of his people either.

Her thought process then brought her to the fact that he said that his planet had been destroyed. She felt a sudden ache in her chest at the very idea of her own planet's destruction. She wouldn't wish that fate upon anyone. Yet Axle had lived through exactly that, and continued on.

"I'm sorry, Axle." The words were out before she could stop herself.

Axle sounded confused when he answered, "What for?"

"I'm sorry about Cybertron, your home. I can't even imagine…"

"Why would you apologize for that? You had nothing to do with Cybertron's destruction."

"No, I know…it's just…I mean," Andi sighed frustrated, "I just felt like it needed to be said."

Silence reigned until the engine rumbled quietly. "Thank you, Andrea."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there you have it, the introduction of Axle. His character will progress and change throughout the story. I know right now he seems a little dull, but that will change. Promise! To tell you the truth, this was my least favorite chapter to write. It's all filler, but necessary. You know about the war, I know about the war, but Andi didn't know about the war. It had to happen. Oh well, the next will be better, I promise! <strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please review! Let me know what you think. You have no idea how excited I was when I read the first review. And when I get happy, I write more, faster. Until next time! **

**P.S: Oh yeah, and there is a link to an image of Axle's car form on my profile! **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks so much to everyone who has read and reviewed! Your input is always welcome and appreciated. It helps me make changes where needed and improves the story! So please, review and let me know what you like, and what you don't. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Of Partnerships <strong>

Axle's explanation was followed by a prolonged silence as Andrea contemplated all of the information that had been given to her. Her mind raced to sort out the facts. Autobots. Decepticons. Cybertron. Allspark. Slowly but surely, she managed to find a spot in her brain for each of the new terms.

"What do you plan to do now, Axle?"

"What I always do, I suppose. I will begin my reconnaissance by performing energon detection sweeps and then search your world wide web for any possible leads on Decepticon activity. Then, depending on what I find, I will go from there. My sensors can only reach so far."

"And what, you just plan to drive around, or find a place to park while you do this? I hate to break it to you, but if that's your plan you are going to need a new disguise. A dodge viper is a hard car to hide. You are going to be attracting a lot of attention and the last thing you need is for some carjacker to try and steal you or a cop to pull over a driverless car. It might raise just a few questions." She bit her lip before continuing. "I may have an idea that could solve your problem."

"What?" Axle's voice sounded cautiously curious.

"Let me help you. I can provide a place for you to stay for the time being, and I can help you with your search on the web."

"No, I don't think that would be a very good idea." An immediate reply.

"Oh, come on, Axle! Just hear me out. First off, you are going to need a place to lay low. I can provide you with one. My parents are rarely ever home. It wouldn't be hard to convince them that I was car-sitting, or something of the sort. There is plenty of room for you in the garage. It's better than having to find a place to hide when you want to rest. Secondly, if you are going to be using the web for some of your recon, I can help you in more ways than one. I'm a hacker, Axle. I can get you information from some rather restricted areas, with minimal risk of getting caught. I can help you."

"I don't know, Andrea. I don't want to get you involved in this war. It could be dangerous for you."

"That's sweet and everything, but I'm already involved. I became involved the minute you almost crash-landed on me. Besides, it isn't like this is a big sacrifice on my part. I _enjoy_ hacking, and I'm _good_ at it. I also like the idea of having a car to drive around in. As for keeping me out of danger, don't you think I'll be safest with you around?"

Axle was quiet for some time. She waited anxiously, hoping above all else that he would agree to her plan. She wanted to get to know him better. She still had so many questions that she wanted to ask. Yet, beyond wanting to get to know him better, there was something else that was calling to her. Something about the idea of Axle being on his own bothered her. She wanted to help him. The Axle she had gotten to know in the past hour was kind and soft-spoken; Andi didn't know how he would be able to handle himself out on the open road. This world could be cruel. Then again, another part of her brain scoffed at her and shouted 'HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS YEAR OLD GIANT ROBOT!' Was there anything he probably couldn't or hadn't handled before?

"Alright."

Andi jumped in surprise. "What? Really? You serious?"

"Yes, of course. Weren't you?"

"Of course. I just didn't think you would agree that easily."

"Well, you made valid points. Having a place to stay will make things easier for the time being. Also, while I would have no problem traversing your world wide web, you probably know more about it than I do, so your help will be appreciated."

She smiled. "Alright then we have a deal. I'll help you, and you help me. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. What do you say, partner?"

"Agreed."

"Excellent. Well, it's late, what do you say we head home? I'll show you where you'll be staying." Placing her hands on the wheel, preparing to take over, she paused, "Do you mind?"

"No, of course not. You know where to go."

She nodded, "Ok, let's go home."

* * *

><p>Pulling into the driveway of a large two-story brick house, Andi directed Axle around to the back of the house where a three car, two-story garage was located. Andi's parents were well-off; they currently owned and ran their own software business. However, because of their work, they were often out of town on business trips, leaving her to take care of herself.<p>

Pulling up to the garage, she exited Axle and punched in a code to the garage door. After the door opened, she gestured for him to pull in. He did so, coming to a rest next to her mother's Acura.

"So, what do you think? This look alright to you?"

"This is sufficient. Thank you."

"Alright," Grabbing her bags out of the passenger seat, Andi closed the garage door, turned and headed towards a set of stairs to the left of where Axle was parked. "I'll be upstairs if you need me. We can get started on our search tomorrow."

"You don't live in the house?"

"Hmm?" She stopped and turned. "No, my parents are out of town a lot, and the house is too big for just me, it's unnerving to stay there by myself. A few years ago, we renovated the second floor of the garage into a bedroom and bathroom. I live there. I still have to go into the house to use the kitchen and what-not, but I like having my own space." She proceeded up the stairs, "Goodnight, Axle."

"Goodnight, Andrea."

The first thing Andi did upon entering her room, was head to her bathroom and take a shower. She was covered in dirt from earlier in the evening, and as she washed it away, she used the time to plan what she was going to do next.

The first hurdle she'd have to jump would be her parents. She had decided on the way home, that she would tell them that she was car-sitting for a friend who would be away for a few months. She had no idea how long Axle would be staying, but for the time being, the excuse should work. The second thing she would have to take care of would be her job. If she was going to be helping Axle with his search, she wouldn't have time to work. She would have to quit, or take some serious vacation time. Mentally she jumped with glee at the idea of quitting. As much as she had liked and appreciated her job when she first started, now, it was more of a hassle than anything else. She was overworked and underpaid. She didn't really like her boss, anyway, so she wouldn't feel too bad about leaving. Besides, in a few more months, after she graduated, she had planned to quit anyway. That decided it, tomorrow she would call and quit her job.

Having finished her shower, she pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed. Turning out the light besides her bed, she flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Today had been one of the longest days of her life. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, it was hard to process everything. The thought briefly passed through her brain that her world was never going to be the same, she was never going to be the same. Hell, she had a giant alien robot living in her garage. Pondering said giant robot as she slipped into sleep, the last conscious thought she had was 'I wonder if he even sleeps?'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, here is essentially the second half of the last chapter. Things will start to pick up after this. Expect a little action within the next few chapters. I hope you enjoyed, and that you continue to read! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Fair warning and disclaimer: I am not a hacker! Some of the things in this chapter are true, others are completely made up, and still others are bent truths. Please don't let that affect your view of the story! I hope you enjoy!**

**Special thanks to all my reviewers! While this story is complete, the next is not and it is extremely motivating and encouraging to read your comments. That and it helps me make the story better. So please, any and all comments/criticisms are welcome! **

**Oh and…**

**I Am Blueberry: Thank you so much for both your reviews! I'm glad even though it wasn't who you thought it was, you are still reading! I hope Axle doesn't disappoint. **

**Anonymous person: You made a good guess! I can honestly say, before I created Axle, I was planning to use Prowl. He's one of my favorite bots. ^^ I will also say, he may or may not make a cameo/appearance in this story and beyond. ^_- **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's and any changes to the movie you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Of Searching and Hacking<strong>

Andi jolted awake when a loud screech reached her ears. "ANDREA ELIZABETH HAMMOND! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Stumbling out of bed, Andi made her way toward the stairs to the garage. "Guess the parental units are home. Nothing like waking up to yelling in the morning." Yawning, she descended the stairs to find her mother waiting, hands on hips, at the bottom. Her father was walking around Axle, examining him. "Welcome home. How was your trip?"

"Don't give me that, young lady! You can't talk your way around this. What is this car doing here? We're gone for one week and you go out and buy a car? A Dodge Viper at that!"

"Relax, Mom. It's not mine."

"It's not?" her dad sounded disappointed. Andi smiled slightly, it would be easy to convince him to allow Axle to stay, now she just needed to worry about her mom. Walking to Axle, she rested a reassuring hand on his hood.

"Nope, I'm car-sitting for a friend at work. He's going to be over-seas for a few months and needed someone to take care of his car. I knew we had space in the garage, so I offered. I didn't think it would be a problem. I would have asked, but it was real sudden. Besides, he's letting me use the car, so it makes life easier for everyone for a few months. You won't have to let me use your cars now that I have my own."

"She makes a good point, honey." Ah, dad, the voice of reason.

Her mother hesitated, weighing her options. "I guess it's alright. But you better be careful in this car! Understood?"

_What, no extensive questioning? No details needed? This is easier than I thought_. "Of course, Mom. I promise to be careful."

"Alright," her stance relaxed. "Do you have plans today, dear?"

"Yeah, Mom. A friend and I are going out in a little bit. I'll be back tonight."

"Okay, well get dressed and come inside to have some breakfast before you go."

"I'll be right in." Her mother nodded, kissed her on the cheek and headed towards the house. Her father, who had been admiring Axle the whole time, walked over to her and gave her a hug, and a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, Dad. Welcome home. Your trip go well?"

"Sure did, kiddo. Everything been alright here?"

"Yup, same old, same old. Nothing new to report."

"Good to hear. Hurry inside, you can tell me more about your week. I want to hear all about it."

"Alright, alright. I'll be in in a minute." Her father released her and headed into the house. Andi leaned back against Axle, watching her father enter the back door of the house. A moment later, Axle spoke up.

"Your parents are…"

"Oblivious to everything?"

"No."

"Gullible?"

"I was going to say easily deceived, but I guess that works to."

"It's ok, Axe, no one is going to blame you for telling the truth," Andi chuckled. "But they love me and I love them, everything works out in the end."

"Axe?" He sounded confused.

"It's a nickname, like Andi. You don't mind do you? It just kind of slipped out."

"No, I don't mind."

"Good. And while we're on the topic of nicknames, call me Andi, okay? Most people do. The only people who call me Andrea anymore are my parents when I'm in trouble or they are trying to convince me to do something for them they know I won't like."

"Alright, Andi."

"Great. Listen I need to have breakfast with my parents, but then we can head out. Is that okay?"

"Of course."

"Alright, I'll be back."

* * *

><p>Following breakfast, Andi grabbed her suped-up laptop with wireless connection, and her backup battery from her room and she and Axle left her house. They found a secluded area outside of town with a lot of tree cover. Parking, Axle opened his door for her to step out, and after she grabbed her bag, he began to shift.<p>

Andi watched wide-eyed as Axle transformed. Parts of his car form slid open, moved back, twisted, unfolded, revolved, and spun until he stood before her in his new and improved bipedal form. "Whoa. That was impressive, but you look different from before."

"Once we take on our alternate modes, when we transform, parts of our new forms are still apparent. A bit of armor coating you could say."

She nodded in understanding. "Alright, let's get to work, shall we? Before I try hacking into any of the high security networks, I figured I'd start by performing general searches on the web. I'll check video sites, blogs, and news reports for any signs of unusual activity. It'll take a while, but it might provide some possible hits. That sound okay to you?"

"That sounds acceptable. I'm going to try scanning the surrounding areas with my sensors first. Then I'll follow you on the web when I'm finished." Their plan set, Axle sat down and leaned against one of the surrounding trees, his legs stretched out in front of him. Andi found a relatively comfortable spot on the ground, made a mental note to bring a blanket to sit on next time, and set to work searching the web.

This became their routine for the next week. Every day in the afternoon, Andi and Axle would travel to their secluded spot, then they would spend the rest of the day searching the web for possible activity. While Andi ran the searches, Axle would first scan the surrounding areas, then follow along either negating or confirming the possible activity reports. As the first week came to an end, the two agreed that it was time for Andi to start hacking systems to see what she could pull up.

It was during one of these hacking sessions that Axle began questioning Andi about her hobby. Currently, she was working on getting into military archives, searching over reports of unusual activity. Over the week, she had taken up sitting with her back resting against one of Axle's legs, her computer in her lap. This was for both comforts sake, and because they had found earlier in the week that Axle could provide power to her laptop so that she didn't have to worry about carrying around her extra batteries.

"Andi?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you get into hacking? It's not a normal hobby for young humans to have, is it?"

She stopped typing and looked up. "What brought this up?"

Axle shrugged, one of his many human characteristics that Andi found so amusing to watch. "I've been watching you. You are good, I can see that; so I was curious to how you got that way, especially being as young as you are."

"Hey, I'm not that young." Axle just stared levelly at her. "Alright fine, to the some odd million year old robot, I'm young. But in human years, I'm not a kid anymore. Anyway, how did I get into hacking? Well, it was by accident really, though I suspect that it was bound to happen."

She began typing again as she spoke. "I was ten the first time I saw a hack being completed. I was at a friend's house, her brother was supposed to be watching us, but instead he was playing around on his computer. So, being bored, we sat in his room and watched as he performed a hack from his computer. I was fascinated, and continued to watch even after my friend left the room to go do something else. I started asking him questions about what he was doing. After a while, when I refused to stop talking, he handed me this book that he had. It was an instruction manual on how to begin learning to read codex. He told me that if I was really interested, and wanted to someday get into hacking, I needed to learn the languages first. So I did."

"I grew up around computers, you see. With my parents running a software company, I'd been around them all my life. At ten I was probably as computer literate as a high school student would be, if not more so. My brain was like a sponge when it came to computer and math related subjects. As I studied the languages and codes, I found that I couldn't get enough of it.

"I was twelve when I performed my first hack, and have been hacking, writing programs, and such ever since. It's all just sort of come naturally to me. My friend's brother told me about some local groups to get in touch with to help me get started. There's a whole underground community for hackers, that I'm now very deeply involved with. It's a way of life, you know? A very complex way of life.

"You, learn early on, that there are two types of hackers. The first type, the true hacker, focuses on developing programs and solving problems. While we know how to hack systems, we never do it to be malicious. The second type, is what is known throughout the community as a 'cracker.' These self-proclaimed hackers are the ones who enter into systems and screw them up. Unfortunately, now a days, there are more crackers than hackers. Part of the reason for this is how addicting hacking really is. It's an obsession, really." She chuckled ruefully, "Hell, I could probably be called a national security risk in and of myself, I've hacked so many systems."

"I think I understand."

Andi shrugged. "There's not much to understand. I am who I am, and I can't change that. I'm really not that much different from you, in that aspect. You're a recon specialist, I'm a computer specialist. It's who we are."

Silence reigned for several minutes, interrupted only by he sounds of Andi typing. The typing stopped as she studied a piece of information on her screen. After several moments, she spoke. "Oh hey, listen to this. I think I've found something. About two months ago a helicopter went down in Afghanistan. The last transmission from the crew had the pilot calling for assistance, claiming they were under attack from some sort of unidentified object. When the helicopter was retrieved, there were what is described as 'massive claw marks' tearing into the sides of the craft. The blades had been snapped off, as well. All of this information has been classified as top secret. The 'official' reports stated that the helicopter was shot down." Pausing, she looked up at Axle, his expression was serious. "Well, what do you think?"

Axle didn't even hesitate before answering, his voice low and tinted with anger, a tone Andi had yet to hear from him. "I think that I can now be sure that I am not as alone on this planet as I originally believed."

"Decepticon?"

"Most definitely."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there you have it. We finally start to get a little more involved with the movie storyline. I hope you all enjoyed! Please, let me know what you think. Like it? Hate it? Love it? Is there anything I need to work on or change? Let me know! <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks so much to all who have reviewed and everyone who is continuing to read! This chapter is more of a filler chapter, but oh well. The action will really pick up next chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any addition to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Of School Days<strong>

Andi and Axle arrived at her high school at 7:30, their usual time. She found a parking spot relatively close to the school, and in a location in which Axle would be able to see everything that was going on outside of school. Ever since Andi had explained what high school was, and that she had to attend every day of the week, Axle had been fascinated by everything associated with it. The first day she had driven him to school, she had told him that he didn't have to wait around all day, and that he could go out to explore as long as he was back by 2:45 to pick her up.

He had refused, claiming that he wanted to learn more about this "thing called high school." So, she left him in the parking lot and went to class. Upon her return, Axle was buzzing with energy. The minute she had entered the car, she was bombarded with questions ranging from student behavior to questions about the various buildings and what she did during her day.

Now, two weeks since his arrival, Andi and Axle had formed a routine that they followed every school day. They would arrive early to school, so that Andi could park Axle close to the quad, then she would try to convince him to leave and go do his own things. Axle would refuse, Andi would go to class, Axle would observe his surroundings, and then when school was over Andi would return in time for Axle to start firing off questions. During a time in her life when everything was changing, Andi found this routine rather comforting. It was something she could look forward to everyday; something that never changed.

It also provided her with an opportunity to get to know him better. While he fired off questions, she would in return ask one of her own. She also found, and was extremely amused by the fact, that Axle was very protective of her…almost overly so.

The event leading to this discovery occurred on the Friday of her first week with him. That afternoon, she had been approached by one of the boys in her own grade upon her arrival to the parking lot after school. He was a jock by every standard; the type of guy that wouldn't normally ever dream of pursuing her. Yet, since she had begun driving Axle to school every day, Andi found that more guys were paying attention to her, simply because of her new choice in vehicle. Axle was as much of a guy magnet as short skirts and big boobs.

Well, said jock, Kevin…or Kyle…or maybe Ken, had been rather persistent. He had refused to take no for an answer. He followed her through the parking lot all the way to Axle. In a last ditch effort to get her to go out that weekend, he had gotten between Andi and Axle and leaned back against Axle's driver's side door. Therein lied his biggest mistake. Axle's door snapped open, and sent Kevin head over heels to the ground. It had taken Andi everything she had not to burst out laughing then and there. Stepping over the body sprawled on the ground, she slid into the driver's seat and closed the door. And immediately started cracking up.

As she pulled out of her parking spot, she asked Axle what that had been about. When he answered she had had to force down another round of laughter. He had sounded like a petulant child would while apologizing for an act they really weren't sorry for. His explanation had been simply that the boy wasn't listening. She had already told him no, so he was just enforcing her own answer. Besides, he added, he didn't like anyone else leaning against his doors. Andi had smiled and patted the steering wheel in a comforting manner, thanking Axle for his help.

* * *

><p>Turning off Axle's engine, Andi unbuckled her seat belt and paused before opening the door.<p>

"You don't have to stay, Axe. I'm sure you have better things to do during the day."

"No thank you, I'll stay."

"What could you possibly find so interesting while sitting out here all day? Don't you get bored?"

"On the contrary. You'd be surprised what goes on outside while you are in class. I want to find out what happens next between Sarah and Ryan."

"I don't think I want to know." She laughed. "It sounds like you're watching a bad soap opera."

"A what?"

"Nevermind, I'll explain later. If you're sure, then I'll see you after class."

"I am. Have a good day."

"You too, big guy." Patting his steering wheel, Andi grabbed her bag and stepped out into the parking lot. "Have fun, Axe. I'll see you later." Giving a final pat to his hood, she turned and made her way towards the school. She hadn't gotten more than a few yards from Axle when she heard someone call her name.

"Andi! Hey, Andi, wait up!"

She stopped walking and turned to face the heralding voice. She smiled when she saw who it was. "Hey, Sam! Long time no see."

"No kidding." He came to a stop next to her.

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked.

"Had some work to do in the library. Anyway, never mind that, I wanna know what's up with the Viper? Since when could you afford a Dodge Viper? That's a sick car, Andi."

Turning back to look at Axle, she smiled. "He is, isn't he? He's not mine though, I'm just car-sitting for a friend."

"Too bad. I'm working on getting my own car. My dad made a deal with me; he'd pay for half if I could get another $2000 and three A's. I've been working on the money part for now." Sam stared wistfully at Axle.

"Good luck with that!" The two continued on into the school.

Andi and Sam talked for a while as they walked into the school, and soon more students began to flood the halls. The two were traversing down one of the main hallways when they were passed by a group of talking girls heading in the opposite direction. The group was being led by Mikaela Banes, the most wanted girl in the school. Sam watched longingly as the group passed, turning his head to follow their progress. Unfortunately, while his head went one direction, his feet went another, and soon he found himself on his back on the floor staring at the ceiling.

Andi laughed loudly as she saw Sam go down. Looking down at him she grinned widely. "You know, keep tripping over your own feet like that, and one day she's bound to notice you."

"Ha ha. Help me up." She grabbed his out-stretched hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Really, Sam, why don't you just talk to her? I mean, she's just a girl."

"Just a girl? Mikaela Banes is not just a girl! She's god's gift to mankind."

"Oh please," Andi rolled her eyes. "She's human, Sam. Flesh and blood."

"And she's only the hottest girl in school."

"And what am I, chopped liver?"

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it like that. You're a friend, not a girlfriend."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. But listen, unless you actually try to talk to her, Mikaela is going to continue believing that you don't even exist. You're a great guy, Sam…when you can avoid tripping over your own feet. But unless you make the first move, it's never gonna happen. I mean you've only been obsessing over the girl since grade school."

"Hey, I'm not obsessing over her!"

"Oh really, then why are you so desperate to buy a car?"

"A guy's gotta have a car." Andi stared levelly at him. "Alright, fine! I want a car to get the girl." She smiled smugly at him.

Before she could speak again, the first warning bell rang. "Look, I gotta go. Talk to the girl, Sam. You never know, she might actually be pining away for you as well." Sam rolled his eyes. She laughed. "I'll see ya around, Sam. Later!" The two went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>At the end of the day, Andi and Axle left school and headed towards their secret spot to begin their daily recon.<p>

"Who was the boy you were talking to this morning?" Axle's voice broke the silence.

"Hmm? Oh, Sam Witwicky? He's a friend. He's two years younger than me and a sophomore. We've been in the same schools since we were kids. I met him by accident one day in junior high when he ran into me in the hallway. We're friends, but we're not that close. He's a good kid, but he's currently only got one thing on the brain, Mikaela Banes, hottest girl in school. All the girls want to be her, and all the guys want to date her."

"You want to be her?" He sounded confused.

She laughed. "No, Axe. It's an expression. I just meant that she's very popular. I'm happy with who I am, thank you very much."

"Oh, that's good. I wouldn't want you to change."

"Me neither, big guy. Besides, who else can say that they are currently living with a giant alien robot? No one I know of. I'd say my life is pretty great right now. But besides that, is there anything in particular we need to take care of today?"

"Not today, but soon I'm going to have to start traversing outside of the city limits to perform my recon. It's about time to widen the search area."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There you go, Sam's introduction into the story. Also, I'm pretty sure Sam is a Junior in the first movie, but I'm taking creative license here and making him 16 instead of 17. I wanted the age gap between him and Andi to be a little bigger. I hope you enjoyed! I'm not very happy with how this chapter turned out. It's shorter than I would have liked, but it was necessary to introduce Sam and explain his relationship with Andi. Reviews are love! <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Wow, I'm actually really proud of this chapter. It's probably my favorite so far. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll gush at the end of the chapter. However, I do want to give a big shout-out to all my reviewers and readers thus far. Thank you so much! You all are amazing! Now on with the show. I hope you all enjoy, because I sure enjoyed writing it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Of Road Trips<strong>

"Yes."

"No."

"I'm going!"

"You're not!"

"Axle!"

"Andi, it's too dangerous, you're not going!"

Axle would have driven away at that point, if Andi wasn't currently standing, hands on hips, blocking his only way out of the garage.

Yesterday evening, during their recon session, Axle's sensors had picked up a brief energon signal. The signal had appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly on the very edge of his scanner's range. Ever since the brief blip on his scanner's Axle had been more than anxious to go out and investigate.

"Andi, this isn't a game!" He knew he said the wrong thing the moment the words left his voice capacitor. Andi's mouth fell open and she stared incredulously at him. Her eyes narrowed in barely restrained anger.

"A game? _A game_! You think I think this is a game?" Her anger nearly radiated off of her. "Tell me, Axle, what part of all of this would I have considered a game? For the past three weeks, I have been hacking into some of the highest security networks in an attempt to find information for _you_. If I'm caught, I will go to jail for the rest of my life! While I may not have known the extent of what I was getting into when I offered you a place to stay, not once was I not completely serious about what I was doing!"

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"No? Really? Because I think you did! Listen, here's how it's going to be; you can take me with you, or I can follow you in my mother's car. I am not going to just sit here and wait and worry about you while you run off and search for some possibly non-existent threat!"

Silence reigned as the two glared at one another. Andi stood, hands on hips, fuming mad, while Axle stewed over the options placed before him. Damn her stubbornness. Sighing irritably, knowing that there was no way to win this argument and wanting desperately to get on the road, his driver's side door opened in a silent invitation for her to enter. She'd be safer with him then following behind him, as he's sure she would. Neither spoke as she took her seat, but Axle's door did slam with more force than was strictly necessary. Then they were off, heading out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the street in search of the phantom energon signal.

* * *

><p>Five hours.<p>

They had been driving for five hours in complete, awkward silence. Andi sat, tense in her seat, staring out the driver's side window, watching as the scenery passed by. After five hours of non-stop driving, the duo had made their way out onto a nearly deserted back-road somewhere near or within the Nevada desert. Truthfully she had no clue where they were exactly, but she figured at the moment, it couldn't matter less.

Her mind was currently occupied with other ponderings. In the slightly more than three weeks that Axle had been living with her, the two had never fought. Sure, they had had their difference of opinions over one thing or another, but neither had ever yelled at one another. When the argument had first begun, Andi had only wanted to go along with Axle because she was worried about him. However, the minute he had suggested that she thought everything they had been doing was a game, her worry had transformed to anger and hurt. How dare he accuse her of such a thing? Initially, that had been what she was thinking. Now, five hours later, after she had had plenty of time to think things over, she realized she may have been a little harsh.

Neither of them had said a word to the other since the moment they had left Andi's house. It was the longest they had ever not spoken to one another while they were in each other's presence. And Andi knew that the silence had gone on long enough. She was more upset now that she and Axle were mad at each other, than she was about their earlier argument.

Turning in her seat so that she now faced the steering wheel, she ran a frustrated hand through her hair, drew in and released a big breathe, then gently laid a hand on Axle's steering wheel. "Axle," her tone was soft and apologetic, "listen, I'm sor…"

CRASH!

She yelped as she was whipped back into her seat as something smashed into Axle's rear end.

"Slag-it!" Axle yelled furiously as he was hit once again from behind. "How come he didn't show up on my sensors! Andi, hold on!" Axle's steering wheel jerked under her hand as he began speeding up, trying to out maneuver their attacker. Glancing in his rear-view mirror, she spotted a red sports car following them, closing in on Axle's rear end. She took notice of the fact that there was no one driving the car.

"Who the hell is that?" she shouted, her heart beating furiously in her ears.

"Decepticon. I don't know how he snuck up on me." He swerved to avoid another hit. They were now traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour, and still gaining speed. The sports car bumped Axle again, and he growled several grating mechanic sounds. Andi didn't know what he was saying, but she was sure it wasn't very nice. "He's fast, whoever he is. We can't stay on this road! I'm going to have to face him. Andi, I need you to do what I tell you to, alright?" She nodded, knowing he would see. "Alright, hang on!" With that, Axle's tires squealed as he made a hard right and left the paved road behind, entering into the rough terrain of the desert. The sound of tires squealing against pavement sounded behind them as their pursuer followed them off-road.

"When I tell you to, I need you to tuck and roll. As soon as you're out, find a place to hide and stay there! Understand?"

Realizing what he had planned, Andi groaned but agreed. "Yeah. But you better be careful, do you hear me?"

"I will. Get ready!" Unbuckling her seatbelt, she turned in her seat and brought her legs up so she was crouching in the seat, ready to spring out of the rapidly moving vehicle. One hand on the back of her seat and the other on Axle's steering wheel, she waited tensely for his signal, watching as the terrain outside passed speedily by.

Infinitely aware of the speeding terror following close behind, Axle scanned his surroundings in a desperate attempt to find a safe place for Andi to hide. They were surrounded on all sides by desert and the occasional rock formation or cactus. It was one of these rock formations that caught his attention. Dead ahead, was a grouping of several large boulders. If he timed it right, he would be able to make a sharp turn in front of the formation, slowing down enough that Andi wouldn't be seriously injured as she jumped out. He would then lead their enemy a safe distance away before confronting him. His plan decided, he relayed it to Andi. She was crouched in his front seat, prepared for the jump, but she could tell by the way her hand gripped his driver's seat tightly that she was extremely nervous if not scared out of her mind.

"Ok, Andi. Here we go. On my signal."

"Right," She nodded and tensed. Axle approached the boulders and reduced his speed rapidly before flinging his door open and beginning a wide turn.

"Now!"

Andi jumped out and hit the ground rolling. The only thought in her mind was that she hoped she didn't get run over by their pursuer as she rolled out of the way. She came to a painful stop when she hit the side of one of the boulders. Opening her eyes, she looked up in time to see Axle transform several hundred feet away and fire off several shots from an arm cannon at the Decepticon as the red car transformed and threw himself at Axle. The ground rocked with the force of their impact. Andi pushed herself up with some effort and scrambled behind the boulders, knowing the only thing she could do was stay out of the way. She watched as the two bots pushed off of one another and faced off.

Axle grappled with his slightly larger opponent. Grabbing him by the arms, Axle used his legs to push the bot he now recognized tumbling over his head. Rising quickly he turned in time to catch his opponents hands in his own. The two were now locked in a match of strength.

"Decided to come out and play, Autobot scum?" the red Decepticon spat at him.

"Motorhead. What are you doing off your leash? Isn't Barricade missing you?"

"He's busy with your little yellow bug. I'll meet up with him as soon as I finish demolishing you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Axle growled.

"Gladly!" Motorhead released a volley of shots at Axle from a large shoulder cannon. Axle dodged to the side and returned fire with his two smaller arm cannons.

The fight quickly picked up speed as the two bots continued to trade fire back and forth. Axle moved in quickly during a brief lapse in Motorhead's firing and tackled the bot to the ground. The two rolled on the ground, throwing punches and biting remarks back and forth.

While Axle was not one of the best long range fighters among his Autobot comrades, his strength came into play when he was put into close combat situations. He was best with hand to hand and knife fighting, and it showed as he traded blows with the slightly larger Decepticon. Strictly speaking, Axle was not a very large bot in comparison to most. He was both shorter and less bulky than his current opponent, and it aided him in his fight, allowing him easier and faster movement in close quarters. Whereas Motorhead had the advantage of more fire-power, Axle had the advantage as long as they stayed in close and predominantly hand to hand combat.

Axle cursed as Motorhead managed to fire off a shot into his shoulder, forcing him to back away from the Decepticon. As he skidded back, Axle took the opportunity to grab two hidden blades from a compartment on his back. These hand-held blades were his weapons of choice. Each blade was about the length of his forearm. Gripping the knives so their blades extended back along each of his forearms, he dodged an incoming missile and ran at Motorhead once again.

Slashing at Motorhead with his blades, Axle soon had the larger bot desperately fighting to avoid the fast moving sharp objects. As he continued to push Motorhead back, continuing to dodge the occasional cannon shot, he watched his opponent for an opening in his defenses. When he finally saw the opening, he didn't hesitate to take it. Slashing Motorhead on his unprotected left side, Axle followed the move by sweeping the Decepticon's feet out from under him. Motorhead fell to the ground on his back, leaving his chest open to an attack. Within seconds, one of Axle's blades found its way into Motorhead's chest plate and his spark, effectively bringing the fight to an end.

Axle watched as the Decepticon struggled for a moment, trying to remove the blade from his chest, but ultimately failing. Glaring up at him, Motorhead cursed him and then uttered his final words.

"You'll never…defeat…us, Autobot scum. Long…live…Megatron."

Axle watched as Motorhead's red eyes faded to black and his spark slowly went out. Pulling his blade out of the Decepticon's body, he looked away. He would never regret what he had done, but it didn't mean that he enjoyed the killing. Standing, he walked away slightly and replaced his knives in their proper compartment.

* * *

><p>Andi had watched the entire altercation with a strange sense of horror and fascination. She had listened to the two of them trade insults and had watched as they beat the crap out of each other. Several times her breath had caught in her throat when she thought Axle had been hurt. When the fight had finally ended and the Decepticon had stopped moving, she released a sigh of relief. Leaving her hiding spot Andi ran full-tilt towards Axle and the now dead and disintegrating Decepticon.<p>

"Axle!"

Axle turned to her and knelt down as he saw Andi race towards him, showing no signs of stopping.

Andi didn't even bother slowing down before she launched herself into Axle's awaiting arms. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have listened to you! Oh god, are you alright?" She had managed to wrap her arms around his broad neck. Releasing her hold, she stepped back and began to examine him closely, trying to locate any possible injuries. Parts of his armor were scratched and banged up especially his shoulder, and several wires hung loose and sparked on occasion, but otherwise he seemed alright.

"I'm fine, Andi. Nothing a little maintenance and a regen cycle can't fix. Are you alright?"

"Thank goodness," she sighed, "Yes, I'm fine." Then she immediately scowled and whacked him on his chest-plate. "Don't scare me like that!" Turning to look at the former Decepticon, who was slowly beginning to turn to dust, she asked, "Who was this guy?"

"Motorhead, a Decepticon scout. He was part of a team led by another known as Barricade."

"What was he talking about earlier? Something about a little yellow bug?"

Axle frowned in thought, "The only Autobot who would fit that description would be Bumblebee."

"Who?"

"Our youngest bot. He is also a recon specialist. It's been a long time since I last saw him. He left some time ago on a mission to search for the Allspark. If he's here on Earth and being pursued by Barricade, no less, it could mean one of two things; he's found the Allspark or perhaps he's located the means to finding it."

The two stood in contemplative silence for several moments. Andi watched as a myriad of emotions crossed Axle's face before finally asking, "What now?"

He turned to her. "If Bumblebee is headed in this direction then there is not much we can do but wait. I'll try and get into contact with him, but for now, it would be best if we head home."

"Home sounds pretty good right about now. Let's go." Andi smiled up at him and nodded. An overwhelming feeling of relief and happiness gripped her as he grinned back at her before transforming back into his alt. mode. Everything would be okay. _They_ were okay.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: As I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, I'm pretty proud of this one. It's my favorite so far. I've never really written a decent fight scene before, let alone a detailed fight between two giant robots, and I think that this one turned out pretty good. Go Axle! Kick ass! He may be relatively small, but he packs quite a punch. (If you hadn't already noticed, Axle's become my baby. I love him to pieces. By far one of the best OC's I've ever created. Andi's up there to. I actually liked her little bout of bitchyness early in the chapter. You don't want to piss the girl off.) <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks to everyone who has favorited, alerted, reviewed, and those who are continuing to read! Your support is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any additions to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Of Beginnings <strong>

"Any luck?" Andi asked Axle who was currently gazing intently up at the sky. A week had passed since Axle's run in with Motorhead. He had healed completely, and now, he was attempting to send a message to his commander and fellow Autobots.

"No response, but the message has been sent."

"Do you think they got it?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm sure, however, they're still quite far off. I doubt that they will be here for a few months at least."

"Months? Whoa." Andi leaned back against Axle's leg as he resumed his position sitting back against a tree. "What about the other Autobot here? Um…Bumblebee, right? Have you been able to contact him?"

"I sent him a transmission last week following our run-in with Motorhead. I informed him of my position, however, I've yet to receive a confirmation transmission from him."

"Do you think he's okay?"

"I do. Bumblebee is young, but he knows how to handle himself. He may just not be in a position to reply at the moment, or perhaps his communications have become even more damaged than they already were."

"What do you mean?"

"Bumblebee's voice capacitor was damaged some time ago during battle. When I last saw him, he was still unable to communicate vocally. I am unsure whether or not the damage has increased since then."

Andi turned and studied Axle's face for a moment. That small piece of information was the most personal thing he had told her about any of his fellow Autobots since his arrival. He had always seemed reluctant to talk about his comrades, and up until this point, an opportunity to breech the subject had yet to present itself.

"Axle, will you tell me more about your friends? You don't talk about them often."

Axle was silent for a moment, she was afraid he wouldn't answer. When he did, his tone was soft. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, tell me about your team? If they're going to be here eventually, I'd like to know a little about them."

"Alright. Well, my commander is Prowl. He is second in command of the Autobots. He is quiet, but also very smart. He is also the lead tactician of the Autobots. Then there is Bluestreak. He…talks…a lot. He is also a very good fighter…when he's not talking. Then there's First Aid, our,"

"Medic?" she grinned.

"Yes," He chuckled. "He's a very diligent doctor, he cares greatly for our wellbeing. Most of the time he has his hands full with the twins."

"Twins?"

"Yes, the last of our group, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Sunny and Sides for short. They are the terrible duo, if you will. Always playing practical jokes on others, or starting fights between themselves. Sunny is a ruthless fighter, but he is also very vain. Creator forbid anyone scratch his paint. Sides is the more laid back of the two. He keeps Sunny in check, but he is also usually the first to suggest a prank. They are one of the only two sets of surviving twins among the Autobots."

"They sound like fun. I can't wait to meet them."

"You say that now, but you'll regret it later." He went quiet for a moment, seemingly turning into himself, lost in thought. Andi watched him, trying to place the expression on his face. Brow plates furrowed, head lowered; ah, that's it, he looked sad. It must have been some time since he last saw his friends; he probably missed them terribly. She wondered how long he had been on his own.

"You miss them, don't you?" Startled, he looked up at her, locked gazes with her before nodding. "How long has it been since you last saw them?"

"Approximately ten thousand earth years."

"Whoa…I can't even imagine. I'm sorry, Axle, that's got to be so hard."

"Occupational hazards. It is nothing I am not used to."

"Still, doesn't change the fact that it hurts." The two lapsed into silence. Glancing at her watch, Andi cursed quietly when she noticed the time. Standing, she dusted herself off before turning to Axle. "It's getting late, we should go. I promised mom and dad that I'd be home for dinner. They are leaving tomorrow morning, and won't be home for a week or so."

Axle nodded as he stood and then transformed. Opening his driver's door for her, he waited until she was in before beginning the drive back to Andi's house.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Andi watched the news in her room, entranced by what she was hearing. She was listening closely as the Secretary of Defense gave a speech concerning an attack on Qatar, a U.S. military base oversees, that morning.<p>

Thinking that Axle would want to know what was going on, she yelled down the stairs into the garage at him. "Hey Axle, turn on your radio to the news! There's something you need to hear."

"Alright."

"As of this moment, we are unsure whether or not there are any survivors of the attack this morning…" Andi shut off her television and walked down the stairs into the garage; the Secretary of Defense's voice echoed through the room as his address repeated itself over Axle's radio.

"What do you think?" she asked, leaning up against his side.

"I can't be sure, but it sounds like something a Decepticon would do. The question is though, why would they attack a military base?"

"I'll do some research and see what I can dig up," she ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "It's going to be a long night." Patting his hood, she turned and headed toward the stairs. "Night, Axle."

"Goodnight, Andi. See you in the morning."

* * *

><p>Andi yawned loudly as she made her way into the school the next morning. She had spent the better part of the night sitting in front of her computer, trying to dig up information about yesterdays attack on Qatar. So far, her search had brought up nothing. The situation was being kept well under wraps. There was plenty of speculation running rampant on blogs, private journals, news sites and other public domains, but the government was keeping quiet about the attack. The only way to get any more information would be to hack into some of the government files, and that would take more time than she currently had.<p>

By the time she had decided to call it a night, it was nearing 4 A.M. She had gotten a total of three hours of sleep last night, and was now paying the price. At least tomorrow was Saturday. Stretching her arms above her head, she yawned again when she was hit from behind by another student. She yelped and cursed loudly as she fell to the floor. She was vaguely aware of a familiar male voice doing the same.

Sitting up, she turned to see who had run her over. Kneeling on the ground, attempting to pick up loose papers and books, and what looked like a spyglass and compass, was Sam. Grinning slightly in exasperation, she stood, leaning over to help the disgruntled boy pick up his things. Near her foot was a pair of old broken glasses which she grabbed and held out to him.

"Hey, Sam. Watch where you're going, will ya?" She frowned and gestured to all the odds and ends he held in his arms. "What's with all the stuff?"

Shifting the items in his arms, Sam grabbed the glasses she was holding out of her outstretched hand and placed them in his bag. "They're for a presentation. An ancestry thing."

"Ah, I see. Been there done that. Oh hey, how's your car fund coming along?"

Sam lit up and grinned excitedly. "Great actually. I've got the money and I've earned two A's. If I get an A today, my dad is taking me to get a car after school."

Andi smiled at his enthusiasm. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I've got to go, but good luck with the report. Hopefully you can show me your new ride on Monday."

"Yeah, definitely. See you later, Andi." Sam turned and headed off down towards his locker location. Andi watched him go before heading in the opposite direction, telling herself that she only had to make it through the day, and then she could take a nap later.

Unfortunately, the day seemed to last longer than she would have liked it to, and by the time her last class ended, Andi was both exhausted and cranky. Grumbling to herself, she exited the main building and headed towards Axle. This time, when the crash came, she was hit from the side, and once again found herself on the ground. Turning to see who she needed to yell at, she scowled when she saw who it was.

"Samuel Witwicky! That's two times today you've run me over! What's the rush?" Andi growled from her position on the ground.

Sam stood and offered her a hand to stand. "Sorry, Andi. I got my A! I'm gonna go get a car! Dad's waiting."

"Congratulations. But next time, watch where you're going!"

"Right, I will. Gotta go, bye!" Sam nodded, then turned and ran off toward where his dad was waiting in his car, waiving to her over his shoulder. Andi sighed and her shoulders sagged. When she finally made it to Axle, she wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep.

Axle, sensing her bad mood, asked softly, "You alright?"

"Yeah, just tired. Let's go home. I don't think I'm up to our nature walk today."

"Alright. I'll drive, you sit back."

She smiled tiredly. "Thanks, big guy."

* * *

><p>Later that night, following a nice long nap, Andi found herself sitting in front of her computer once again. Earlier in the day, on their way home from school, Axle had told her that Bumblebee had entered his sensors range around noon. He had been able to contact the younger bot, and was now on standby, waiting to be of assistance if he was needed.<p>

It was nearing on midnight, and she was contemplating on going to bed. She had been working for four hours now, and knew that if she was going to get anything done tomorrow, she needed to get some sleep.

"Andi! Andi!" Axle's cry broke her from her thoughts.

Jumping out of her chair, Andi stumbled down the stairs into the garage. "What is it? What's wrong?" Axle was rocking from side to side in an anxious manner.

"Nothing's wrong. Bumblebee has sent out a signal, calling to the others. He's found what he was looking for! They'll be here soon."

"Others?"

"The Autobots, his team. Optimus Prime should be among them. If they were within range of the signal, they should be here within a day or so."

"Excellent! So what do we do now?"

"Wait."

"Wait? That's it?"

"I won't know until they arrive where they are going to meet. Until then, there's not much else we can do."

Andi sighed and rubbed her forehead, she never was a very patient person. "Great, we wait."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And so the movie plot comes into play. I hope you all enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you thought. <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and who continues to read this story! A warning for this chapter: almost everything that has to do with the technical computer parts has been made up. I tried to make it sound as realistic as possible, but I don't think it worked out very well. Anyway, hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Of Decoding Signals<strong>

Maggie Madsen and Glen Whitmann are hard at work trying to decode a signal copied from government files.

Glen sighed and sat back from the keyboard, rubbing his hands over his face. "I have never seen a signal so damn complex before. I can tell there are multiple layers to it, and I'm almost positive there is an underlying code or a message, or something, but I can't crack through to it."

"Keep trying, we can't stop now. You've gotten farther than anyone else, you have to be able to do this."

"It's not that easy, girl. None of my programs are working. I'm out of ideas." The two sat in silence for a few moments, both desperately trying to come up with some kind of answer to their problem. Glancing at Maggie, Glen pondered his options before addressing her. "Maggie, listen, we need help. I think I know of someone who could help us, but its up to you."

"What are you talking about? You're the best, that's why I came to you."

"Naw, girl, I'm good, but I'm not the best. Don't get me wrong, I'm the shit, but there are others out there who are better. And it just so happens that I know one of them. She's a good friend, and I trust her. She's helped me out before. I think that she could crack this."

Maggie paused in thought for a moment, watching Glen for any sign that he was wavering in his opinion. He wasn't. "If you're sure that we can trust her, and that she can help us, then I guess we don't have any other choice. Go ahead, do what you have to."

Nodding, Glen booted up his web cam, and started typing rapidly. Soon, a face appeared on screen.

* * *

><p>Andi sat back in her desk chair, and stretched her arms up above her head. She had been working at her computer for hours. She and Axle had spent the better part of the day anxiously sitting around waiting for the incoming Autobots to arrive. Axle's anxious silence and fidgeting had finally gotten too annoying to sit with, so Andi had retreated to her room and had taken to surfing the web. Repositioning herself in her chair, she almost fell out as her computer dinged at her, announcing a request for a web cam chat from username: MasterPimp. An eyebrow rose in question. "Glen?"<p>

Accepting the request she was surprised when the screen popped up and Glen was not alone, but was sitting with a blonde woman in his room. "Hey, Glen. What's up? Who's your friend?"

"Hey, Andi. This is Maggie Madsen, a good friend of mine."

Andi smiled coyly at Glen, taking the chance to screw with him when presented. "_Oh_, so _this_ is the Maggie you are always talking about. Nice to meet you Maggie." She stifled a laugh as Glen scowled at her and Maggie looked questioningly at Glen. "Anyway, what can I do for you? I haven't heard from you in some time. I thought you were supposed to be flying straight and laying low for a while."

"Yeah, I know. Listen, this is important. We need your help with something."

"What kind of something?"

"The top secret, highly classified kind of something. Maggie came to me with a signal that she needed decoded. I been working on this thing for hours, but I can't crack it. Will you take a look at it?"

"Sure, send it through." Andi watched her screen as Glen began typing away on his end. Within seconds, a file had been sent through to her. Minimizing the chat box so that it fit in the corner of her screen, she opened the file and was instantly impressed. She furrowed her brows and studied the data she had just been sent. The signal was unlike anything she had ever seen. Within seconds her fingers were racing across her keyboard, running diagnostics, collecting, and sorting through the data given to her.

"This is incredible. It's impossibly strong, and there are literally hundreds of layers of code to this thing. I've never seen anything like it…where did this come from?" She asked, glancing away from the signal for a second.

Maggie looked hesitant about answering, but after a reassuring nod from Glen, she did. "That was a signal we traced hacking into the air base at Qatar, and again out of Air Force One. It was able to penetrate the military defense system in less than a minute. We have no idea what they were after, but whatever it was, they got it, and were able to place a virus in the system in the process. The only way to stop the hack was to cut off the hard lines."

Warning bells went off at the mention of Qatar, but she still whistled despite herself, impressed. "No way. That's amazing!" Returning to her analysis of the signal, she began noticing some odd things about it. "Glen, did you pick up on the underlying layer of code?"

"Yeah. I was trying to crack through that, but I couldn't do it."

"Alright, let me see what I can do." Andi set to work.

Slowly but surely, the signal began to unravel before their eyes. Andi frowned as she concentrated on the task before her. Some of the data looked almost familiar. The data she was receiving was beginning to take form as symbols. Symbols she was sure that she had seen before. There was no doubt in her mind that the one who hacked into the system was not human. Taking into consideration the amount of damage they had done during the hacks and how fast they completed the hacks, she was willing to bet that the hacker was a Decepticon. She would have to let Axle know as soon as she could. She wondered briefly if Maggie and the government had any idea what they were getting into.

An hour had passed, and Andi was finally getting somewhere. Pausing for a moment, she sat back and studied what was left of the signal. She still hadn't gotten the underlying code sorted out yet; and she had a feeling it was that code that needed to be taken care of before they would know anything. For the most part, Glen and Maggie had stayed quiet as she worked. They answered her questions when she had one, and tossed ideas out on the table as she worked. Otherwise they remained quiet. Now, for the first time during the hour, she stopped typing and spoke to them directly, determined to try and see what they knew about the current situation.

"The code on this thing is phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it. _Ever_. No one person could have been able to create this. They would have to have control of several super computers, and even then, it would take them years to hack directly into the government's military defense system. I'm beginning to think that whoever did this isn't human." She threw the idea out there to see what their reactions would be. Glen, predictably, scoffed. Maggie, however, seemed to take the suggestion more seriously.

"That's what I told the Secretary of Defense, and he wouldn't listen to me."

Andi was impressed to say the least. She had been living with an alien robot for a little over a month; she knew that there were other beings out there. Maggie, however, had not, yet still she was open minded enough to accept the facts and think of alternative answers. While she pondered this, Andi stared blankly at the signal in front of her. She was briefly pondering the idea of using one of her pre-made programs on the code when it hit her. The underlying code was like a language; she had been treating it like numbers, not letters.

"That's it!" Leaning forward, she began furiously typing, sending different commands and algorithms than she had been using this whole time. Suddenly, the remaining part of the signal unraveled and the group was presented with a series of flashing words: names of places, people, and things.

"Project Iceman?" Andi muttered.

"What's sector seven?" Glen asked.

"Who's Captain Witwicky?" Maggie questioned.

Andi frowned. Witwicky? Sam?

Then, all hell broke loose on Glen's end.

Andi watched, wide-eyed as a group of heavily armed FBI agents burst into Glen's room, grabbed him and Maggie, forced them to the ground and restrained them. Glen and Maggie, well, mostly Glen, shouted at the officers. Andi heard Glen spout something about his Grandma's carpet, before she cut the connection to her web cam.

"Crap!" Jumping out of her chair, Andi hurriedly initiated a purge and shutdown on her computer and moved to change out of her sweatpants and baggy t-shirt, into a pair of jeans and a red tank top. If the fed's had gotten to Glen, then it would only be a matter of time until they traced the web chat back to her. She and Axle needed to get out of there now. She really didn't feel like being arrested today.

Turning back to her now shutdown computer, she knelt and removed the hard drive. Grabbing her laptop out of her backpack, she walked back to her bed, knelt down, and crawled under it. Finding the loose floorboard, she wrenched it open and placed her purged hard drive and laptop in the gap below. Replacing the board, she stood up and grabbed her black zipper hoodie and tennis shoes. If, or rather when, the feds showed up, they would have quite a good time trying to locate her files. They could have her monitor and hard drive casing, but they'd have to work for her hard drive. She supposed she could take her laptop with her, but she had a feeling it would only get in the way.

Leaving her room, she raced down the stairs into the garage, calling to Axle as she went. "Axle! We have to go! Now!"

"What? Why? What's wrong?"

"I'll explain on the way." She jumped into the front seat. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Andi and Axle could be found at their spot within the grove of trees. The sun had set an hour ago, and the two now had a nice view of the stars in the sky. Andi had explained what had happened in her room on their way there. Axle had confirmed her suspicions that it was most likely a Decepticon which had hacked into the governments system. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do until the other Autobots arrived. Now, the only thing they could do was hide out and wait.<p>

Andi had made herself comfortable on the ground next to Axle's leg. She lay down, her back and shoulders supported by a panel on his left thigh; his left hand rested gently on her stomach, providing warmth and protection. She allowed her head to fall back so that she was gazing up into the sky. Being outside of town, in an area where there were no lights, the stars seemed to glow impossibly bright in the sky. She was able to make out a few constellations, but not many. Stars were never really her thing. Glancing up at Axle, she noticed that he too was gazing intently at the sky, but she had the distinct feeling that he was not stargazing.

"Relax, Axle. They'll get here when they get here."

His gaze moved to her, "I know. I'm anxious that's all."

She grinned. "I can tell. I can't blame you though. I'm a little nervous myself."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Her grin faded away to a frown. "I feel like I'm intruding on something I shouldn't. What are your friends going to think about a little human tagging along like a lost puppy? I'm just going to be in the way."

"That's not true, Andrea," the use of her full name surprised her, he only used it when he wanted to make sure that she was listening. "You have been a great help to me. You've provided me with a safe place to stay, and you have done much in the way of helping me scout your world wide web. You are a brave young woman; Optimus and the others will recognize this. You have nothing to be nervous about."

Andi snorted softly. "Brave? I don't think so. I'm…worried…scared about what is going to happen next. I'm scared that we might not be able to stop the Decepticons. And I'm terrified that you might be hurt in the process. You've become my best friend, Axle. I don't want to lose you."

"Me neither, Andrea. You are important to me. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. And, should something happen to me, I want you to know that not once have I regretted our meeting. For what it's worth, I'm glad I didn't accidentally crush you the night I landed. It would have been a great loss." He grinned down at her, trying to lighten the mood.

Andi chuckled. "Yeah, me too. But that raises another question I've been meaning to ask. Why did you take me with you that night? Why not leave me behind?"

Axle's brow furrowed in thought. "I suppose it was because you were not afraid of me. That, and you said 'please.'"

She smiled. "I knew learning to say 'please' and 'thank you' would come in handy someday." The two lapsed into silence then, both returning their gazes to the sky. Andi felt closer to Axle in that moment than she had since the day he arrived. It warmed her heart knowing that he cared for her as much as she did for him. And it eased her mind knowing that he did not regret their meeting; that he thought so highly of her.

Since the fight between Axle and Motorhead, events had been picking up speed. She had been worried that she would not be able to keep up with Axle, that she would only be in the way, slowing him down. Hearing from him that she would not, put her at ease and gave her the resolve to keep going.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Axle tense. "They're here."

Andi glanced at his face which was still facing the sky, and then turned to look up once more. When she did, she was greeted by an amazing sight. Four bright lights similar to shooting stars, but much larger, streaked across the sky. They were close together, and heading towards the earth at an angle. As they disappeared below the tree line, she stood. Axle stood and then transformed, opening his door for her to enter.

"How are we going to find them?" she asked.

"Meeting coordinates have been sent out," he replied as he started moving out of the grouping of trees. "It's not far."

Andi nodded and gripped the steering wheel reassuringly. "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: TA DA! I couldn't very well make Andi a hacker and not involve Glen, now could I? For the most part, Glen annoyed me, except for when he got serious and down to business, than he was pretty cool. ^^ Up next, first meetings with the bots! Next update will be Sunday or Monday, busy weekend. See you then!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Special thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Your comments help and are appreciated more than you know. ^^ **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie that you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Of Arrivals<strong>

The twenty minutes it took for Andi and Axle to arrive in a back alley within the industrial district of town was the longest twenty minutes Andi had ever had to sit through. She was nervous and anxious and just plain tired; and she knew that Axle felt the same. So, when Axle pulled up next to a snazzy yellow Camaro, next to which Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes were standing, she was only too happy to get out and greet them. Her arrival garnered the exact reactions she expected from Sam, mainly shock.

"Andi? What are you doing here?" She smiled and patted Axle's hood.

"I'm here with a friend."

"The Viper? Your car to?"

"Yeah, Sam, my car to."

"But, you've had it for over a month!"

"Yup. It's a long story, I'll explain later. You sure have gotten yourself into quite a big mess, Sam Witwicky. And I see you've managed to pull Mikaela in with you." She smiled at the disheveled brunette.

"What are you talking about? I don't even know what's going on! A few hours ago I find out my car is a giant alien robot, and now I'm here." Sam's tone was verging on panic.

"I'm sure everything will be clear to you momentarily."

The sounds of engines heading towards the group interrupted them. Turning to look behind Axle, Andi watched as a group of vehicles drove towards them. There was a silver Pontiac Solstice, a black GMC Topkick pick-up truck, and a yellow and red search and rescue Hummer. Another, louder engine roared, and she turned in the opposite direction to see a large blue and red Peterbilt truck heading towards them. The truck's lights were bright, and she was forced to lift an arm to cover her eyes.

"Optimus," she heard Axle mutter next to her.

Optimus Prime, huh? The great leader of the Autobots. Andi's hands shook slightly before she clenched them at her sides, reigning in her nerves. He had picked an impressive alternate form, that's for sure.

"Watch out, Andi." She jumped slightly, surprised. She had gotten lost in her thoughts and hadn't noticed the other Autobots were transforming around them. Realizing Axle was waiting for her to move so that he wouldn't hurt her, she quickly stepped out of his way, moving toward Sam and Mikaela.

Just as the other two teens were doing, Andi turned and watched as each of the bots transformed. The black Topkick and yellow Hummer were the tallest of the four behind Axle; the silver Solstice was the smallest, shorter even than Axle himself. Bumblebee was about the same size as Axle, give or take a foot or so. Optimus, however, dwarfed the lot of them. At his full height, Andi approximated that he must have hit almost 30 feet. She and the other two backed up slightly, heads thrown back to stare up at the impressive figure. Instinctively, she reached out with one hand until she met metal, Axle's leg. She kept her hand there to reassure herself.

Optimus, having finished his transformation, all but swooped down in front of Sam and addressed him. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky? Descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" Andi was sure she had never seen Sam's eyes quite so wide.

"Yeah." The boy squeeked.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." Andi tuned out for a moment. This was nothing new to her. Turning, she studied the yellow and red one as he spoke. From his voice, she guessed that he was quite a bit older than Axle, just as Optimus was. She also guessed he was the serious, no-nonsense, stick-up-his-butt-type as well.

She turned again as the small silver bot spoke next; his voice had a definite urban street accent to it, causing her to smile in amusement. "What's crackin', little bitches?" He pulled off an impressive spin before making himself comfortable on an old car. "This looks like a cool place to kick it."

"My first lieutenant, designation Jazz," Optimus introduced.

"How'd he learn to talk like that?" Sam asked. Andi frowned, what did he mean? Had Bumblebee not talked to him yet? Axle had said he was damaged, but was he still broken?

"We've learned Earth's languages through the World Wide Web." Optimus answered. He turned then to the large black bot. "My weapons specialist, Ironhide."

One of Ironhide's massive arms transformed into a cannon and whirled to life before he pointed it at Sam and Mikaela. "You feeling lucky, punk?"

Andi suppressed a laugh at his attempt at an impersonation. Though she had to say, the giant cannon definitely added to the intimidation factor, as was evident by the uneasy looks Sam and Mikaela were giving the cannon and each other.

"Easy, Ironhide."

Ironhide slumped and Andi got the distinct impression of a puppy that had just been kicked, or a petulant child who was just scolded. "Just kidding," he rumbled, "I just wanted to show him my cannons."

Optimus turned then to the yellow bot who had spoken earlier. "Our medical officer, Ratchet."

Ratchet sniffed the air then before speaking in a purely clinical tone. "The boy's pheromone level suggests he wants to mate with the female." Andi couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her then at Sam and Mikaela's expressions. She snorted slightly, she could have told them that; you didn't have to read Sam's pheromone level to know what he wanted to do with Mikaela. Unfortunately for her, her laugh had drawn the attention of Ratchet, and she yelped in surprise as he raised his arm and a wide beam of light shot out of his wrist to scan up and down her body.

Noticing that Sam and Mikaela were staring, Andi glanced down at herself to see what they were staring wide-eyed at. As she looked, she was shocked to find herself looking at her black bra and underwear. Yelping indignantly and covering her chest with her arms, she scowled Ratchet. "Hey! Cut it out! You can't just do that without asking a person first, it's private. What if I hadn't been wearing a bra or underwear, huh?" Realizing what she had just said, she blushed a deep red. "Not that I don't always wear underwear," she stuttered slightly, trying to make up for the slip.

The beam shut off and Ratchet shrugged, looking not in the least apologetic. "I was merely checking for damage. Your body is fine, though your systems could use a recharge."

"Gee, thanks for sharing," Andi grumbled, "I could have _told_ you that."

Optimus redirected everyone's attention as he motioned toward Bumblebee. "You already know your guardian, Bumblebee," he addressed Sam.

"Bumblebee?" Sam questioned.

Bumblebee hopped around a bit, pretending to be boxing with an opponent as a snippet of a song rang through the alley. "Check on the rep, yep second to none."

"So you're my guardian, huh?" Bumblebee nodded.

A beam of light shot out of Ratchet's wrist once again, and hit Bumblebee's throat area. Bumblebee flinched slightly and started to cough a bit. "His voice processors were damaged in battle. I'm still working on them." Well, Andi thought, that answered that question.

Optimus' attention then turned to Axle, and Andi saw her friend straighten as he was given the attention of his commander. Still addressing Sam, Optimus introduced him, "This is Axle, one of my recon specialists." He spoke directly at Axle then. "It has been a long time, friend. I am glad to see you, though it is unexpected."

Axle nodded. "I am glad to see you are all well, also."

"Why are you on Earth? What of Prowl and the others?"

"Prowl sent me out to recon surrounding systems some time ago. I've been on Earth for one of their months, surveying their world wide web and scanning the surrounding areas for Decepticon activity. It was chance that I landed in this city. About a week ago, we had a run in with Motorhead and learned from him that Bumblebee was headed this way. I sent a signal to Prowl, but he and the others are still at least two Earth months travel away. We've been waiting for your arrival since then."

"We?"

Axle nodded and motioned toward Andi. "Yes. This is Andrea Hammond. I nearly landed on her on my arrival, and she has since then provided me with a place to stay hidden and assistance with my recon. Her help has been indispensable." Andi blushed slightly at the praise, and the scrutinizing looks she was receiving from Optimus and the others.

Optimus nodded then and gave Andi what she could only describe as a smile. "Thank you, little one." Andi's blush deepened.

"Anytime," she replied. Silence reigned for a moment then before Mikaela interrupted it.

"Why are you here?"

Straightening, Optimus responded, "We are here looking for the Allspark. And we must find it before Megatron."

"Mega-what?" Sam asked.

Optimus' eyes glowed then and two beams of light exited from them. Andi was impressed as the ground below their feet changed and dropped away in great slabs. They were now standing on a cliff over-looking a war-torn land. Great metal beings did battle in the foreign terrain. Optimus began explaining about Cybertron and the war that took place on it. Andi paid little attention; she had heard the story before. Instead she focused on the images before her. It had to be some form of hologram, she thought. It was the only possible explanation. She watched in morbid fascination as the bots below did battle, and one terrifying figure, Megatron, yelled out craving power and conquest and blood. She shivered at the thought. Backing up slightly, she leaned back against Axle's leg, gaining comfort from the touch and providing it for him as well. Her attention returned to Optimus as the hologram faded away and he spoke of something she hadn't known.

"The Allspark was lost to the stars. Megatron followed it to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him." Sam's grandfather. Andi's brow furrowed as she recalled the name which had flickered across her computer screen earlier that night. She wondered briefly how Glen and Maggie were doing. "It was an accident that intertwined our fates." Andi had to refrain from rolling her eyes. What was with these Autobots and their flare for the dramatics? "Megatron crash-landed before he could retrieve the Cube. Captain Witwicky accidentally activated his navigation system. The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were then imprinted on his glasses."

Sam frowned slightly in confusion. "How'd you know about his glasses?"

"E-bay." Andi chuckled in disbelief.

Ratchet spoke up then. "If the Decepticons find the Allspark, they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army." _Right_, Andi thought, _so that would be bad._

Optimus continued, "And the human race will be extinguished." _And that would be worse._ "Sam Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."

Andi looked over to the shell-shocked Sam. "No pressure, Sam," she spoke quietly.

"Please tell me you still have those glasses," Mikaela whispered. _My thoughts exactly_, Andi thought, as the group waited with baited breaths for Sam's reply.

When he didn't reply, his face still registering shock, Andi walked up to him and whacked him on the back of the head. "Sam! Wake up! Now's not the time to space out. Do you still have the glasses?"

Sam rubbed his head. "Ouch. Uh, yeah, yeah, I've got them. They're at my house, in my backpack." The Autobots, Andi, and Mikaela all seemed to release a collective sigh of relief at the same time. Optimus took control then.

"We need those glasses. Sam, we will follow you and Bumblebee to your home." Sam nodded in agreement as Axle, Bumblebee and the others transformed. Andi entered Axle's driver's side and watched as Sam and Mikaela entered Bumblebee.

"Well," she said to Axle as she buckled up. "That was exciting."

He chuckled. "I told you they would like you." Andi just smiled in reply, patting his steering wheel in agreement. She jumped slightly as Optimus' voice sounded out of Axle's speakers; which resulted in the group beginning to move forward.

"Autobots, rollout!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There you go, and so we have Autobots. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think. The sequel is in the process of being written! <strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks so much to all those who reviewed and to those who continue to read this. Here you go. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any additions to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Of Glasses and Mojo<strong>

The caravan of Autobots came to a stop in the alleyway behind Sam's house. "I'm gonna see what I can do to help," Andi told Axle before she unbuckled her seatbelt and left the bot, heading over to where Sam and Mikaela were getting out of Bumblebee. "What can I do, Sam?"

"I need you guys to stay here, all right? Stay here and watch them. Keep them out of trouble." He spoke fast, and kept glancing from side to side as if he were waiting for someone or something to pop out of a bush and catch them.

"Okay, okay." Mikaela reassured. Andi nodded in agreement.

"Give me five minutes, all right? I just need five minutes and I'll be back. Watch them!" Sam took off into his backyard, leaving Andi and Mikaela to baby-sit the six waiting bots.

The girls watched as he ran off before turning as one to give each other incredulous looks. How were they going to keep the bots from doing whatever it was that they wanted to do? They were giant robots for heavens sake. Turning to the waiting bots, they both jumped, startled, when Optimus' voice interrupted their silent musings.

"We need the glasses." He sounded impatient, agitated.

The girls turned to the big rig. Mikaela pushed Andi forward slightly, placing her before the firing squad. Andi scowled at her and swatted her hands away. "We know, Optimus. Sam's gone to get the glasses now, we just have to give him a few minutes. He said he'd be back in five, we just have to wait."

"There is no time."

"I know, but…"

"No time. Bumblebee, scout ahead."

"What? No, wait!" But Bumblebee didn't listen, he transformed before he stepped into Sam's backyard and crept towards the house. Andi and Mikaela watched him go; could do nothing to stop him. "Oh, man, Sam's going to be pissed."

The girls watched as Bumblebee snuck up on Sam and planted himself at the side of the house, staring around the corner at Sam and his dad conversing. They watched as he tried to stay hidden. The sound of metal and gears shifting behind them brought their attention back to Optimus and the others. They watched wide-eyed as the others began to transform.

Andi shifted her gaze toward Axle who had also begun his transformation and scowled at him. "Don't even think about it, buster." He paused half-transformed and immediately began the reverse process back into his Viper mode. Andi crossed her arms and nodded in satisfaction. At least someone was going to listen to her. Axle knew better than to walk off into someone's backyard where anyone could see him. She was proud of him for that. She couldn't say the same for the others. By this time, they had made it into Sam's backyard, and were wreaking havoc as they went. "Please wait here, Axle. I need to help Sam." She left him in the alley and entered Sam's backyard in time to hear him yelling at the Autobots and Mikaela.

"You couldn't wait for five minutes? I told you to stay! Just stay! God!" He turned to Mikaela. "I told you two to watch them. I told you!"

Mikaela looked indignant, "Okay, you know what? They seem to be in a little bit of a rush."

Andi snorted. "That's an understatement." She heard the yapping of a small animal and turned slightly to see a small Chihuahua barking madly up at an irritated Ironhide; before lifting his leg and peeing on Ironhide's foot. "Uh, Sam? Is that your dog?"

"What? Oh, this is bad." He ran off toward his dog. "No! Mojo! Mojo! Off the robot!" He scooped Mojo up into his arms and held him protectively away from Ironhide who had whipped out one of his cannons. "Easy, hold on! This is Mojo. Mojo. He's a pet of mine. A pet. Okay? That's all. If you could just put the guns away…"

"You have a rodent infestation. Shall I terminate?"

"He's not a rodent, he's a Chihuahua. This is my…this is my Chihuahua. We love Chihuahuas! Don't we?"

"He's leaked lubricants all over my foot," Ironhide growled. Andi had to stifle a laugh.

"He peed on you?" Sam asked. He held Mojo toward Ironhide's foot. "Bad Mojo. Bad Mojo."

"Bad Mojo," Ironhide growled, before retracting his cannon.

"I'm sorry. He's got a male dominance thing. That's all it is."

"My foot's gonna rust," Ironhide grumbled as he turned to walk away and Sam headed in the opposite direction, setting Mojo back on the ground as he went.

As Sam entered his house, Andi and Mikaela watched as the Autobots continued their exploration of the backyard. They both cringed slightly as Optimus ordered the others to recon the house. Bumblebee crawled forward and gazed into one of the back windows.

"They're going to get caught, aren't they?" Mikaela asked.

"Oh, yeah," Andi deadpanned.

"So…Sam said you've had your car for a month? How'd that work out for you?"

Andi glanced at the other girl and grinned slightly at her attempt at a conversation despite the chaos around them. "Pretty well, actually. I think they only get stupid when they're in groups. Axle understood the idea of hiding in plain sight very well. Speaking of, I better check on him. I'll be right back." She left Mikaela to watch the others and went back into the alley where Axle was still waiting. She noticed with a bit of humor that he had pulled up slightly so that he could see what was going on in the crowded backyard. "How you doing, Axe?"

"Fine. Have they found the glasses?"

Andi leaned back on his hood, so that she could watch the mayhem continue in the back yard. "Not yet, Sam went inside to get them. He'll be back in a minute." She cringed as Jazz and Bumblebee knocked over a grill that had been sitting near the back porch and then proceeded to get into some sort of bitch-slap fight, as Mojo yapped at them from their feet. "What is wrong with them?"

"They're inquisitive."

"Inquisitive? Is that what you call it? I fail to see how they could cause so much mayhem and destruction in so little time."

"Andi, we're giant alien robots; impatient giant alien robots. You'll have to forgive them if they make a bit of a ruckus."

"Ruckus? Tell that to Sam's parents. Have I ever thanked you for being such an amazing houseguest? A quiet, inconspicuous house guest?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, thanks."

Noticing Optimus approaching Mikaela, and Mikaela sending her furtive glances, Andi patted Axle's hood and stepped again into the backyard.

"This is taking too long. There is little time left. You will help Sam search for the glasses." It was an order, not a question. Not wanting to upset the large robot, Mikaela nodded and stepped up into Optimus' hand. Andi watched as she was lifted up to Sam's bedroom window and then let inside to assist him in his search.

"Great," Andi muttered, "leave me alone to baby-sit." The sound of grinding gears, shifting metal, and a yapping dog behind her, drew Andi's attention back toward where Axle had been waiting not a minute ago. She watched in horror as he transformed and then entered the backyard where he knelt to inspect the small dog which continued to bark madly up at him. "Axle! What are you doing? Hey, stop! I take it back; you're a terrible houseguest! Axle, stop!"

"I just want to look…What is this again?" He tilted his head to the side as he studied the animal.

"A Chihuahua, Sam's dog. He called him Mojo. Look, I'll get you your own dog if you just go back now."

"Just a second."

"Axle!" She was practically whining now. It was all she could do to not stomp her foot like a petulant child. Turning, she watched as the Autobots continued to wreak havoc in Sam's backyard. Knowing that she had to at least try to get them back in the alley, she approached Optimus who was standing near the house.

"Optimus?" She waited until she was sure she had his attention. "Listen, I know you're all anxious to get the glasses, but all this commotion isn't helping Sam. Besides that, if someone sees you guys, we're going to have more trouble than we're ready to deal with. Don't you think it would be better if you guys at least waited in your car forms so no one will suspect anything if they see you?"

"It would be wise, Optimus," Ratchet interrupted.

"Very well, Autobots, transform." Andi expected the group to head back out to the alley, but was instead dismayed to see them transform and park in Sam's backyard.

"No! Stop! Not here! In the alley, not his backyard!" She threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. She stood then, hands on hips in the center of the yard, surrounded on all sides by the transformed bots, shaking her head in exasperation. This was how Sam found them moments later as he stuck his head out of his bedroom window.

"No. no. nononono. This isn't hiding. This isn't hiding! This is my back yard, not a truck stop. Andi, what are you doing? I told you to watch them, not park them in the yard!"

Andi scowled up at Sam and flipped him the bird. "Stow it, Sam. It's not like I told them to park here," She stage whispered up to him. "Just hurry up and find those glasses!" As she hissed at Sam, the Autobots once again transformed and Optimus made his way up to Sam's window.

"Sam, you must hurry. We need the glasses!"

"I know! They were here but now they're not here. I'm looking, but I can't concentrate. It's all the noise. I need quiet. Please, just five minutes, that's all I'm asking, just a few minutes of quiet."

"Alright, alright. Calm down." He turned to the other bots. "Autobots, fall back."

Andi sighed in relief as the bots began making their way out of the alley. Heading towards Axle, she frowned when she heard Ratchet and Ironhide begin arguing. The argument was cut off, however, when Ratchet ran into a bunch of electrical wires. The resounding thud as he hit the ground caused her to stumble as the ground shook. She turned and scowled as the lights throughout the neighborhood flickered and went out.

"Great. Fantastic. One more thing we don't need," she muttered as she continued onward toward where Axle was standing near the entrance to the alley. However, while she scowled deeply, she also had to fight to keep a grin from blooming across her face. These guys sure knew how to get into all kinds of trouble. She had a feeling the next few hours were going to be awfully exciting.

* * *

><p>Andi stood next to Axle, leaning against his driver's side door as Optimus and the others reassembled in the alleyway behind Sam's house. Her leg bobbed anxiously as she watched Sam's house, waiting for some sign that he and Mikaela were heading back with the glasses. "Come on, Sam. Hurry up," she muttered.<p>

"What's taking so long?" Ironhide grumbled from behind her. Andi could tell from his tone that he was still sore about being reprimanded by Optimus earlier when he got a little trigger happy and asked if he could shoot Sam's parents.

Straightening, Andi answered, "I don't know, but I'm…" she was cut off by the sound of sirens in the distance; sirens which seemed to be getting closer. "What now?" Running to the edge of the alley, she saw a line of black SUV's with flashing blue and red lights heading up Sam's street. "Damnit!" Heading back to the Autobots, she paused next to Optimus. "We've got company. Get out of here. I'll go get Sam and Mikaela."

"Andi…"

"I'll be fine, Axe, now get going!" Patting Axle's hood twice as she passed, she took off into Sam's backyard, not waiting to see if Optimus and the others followed her instructions.

She entered the house through the unlocked back door, calling for Sam. She ran into a room to her right and found herself in the Witwicky's kitchen, where Sam and Mikaela were standing at the counter staring at the glasses Sam was holding in his hands. Sam glanced at her when she entered. "We need to go," she answered his unasked question. However it seemed that their clean getaway was not to be had, for as they entered the living room they were met by Sam's parents and several Men-in-Black wannabes. The one who had been speaking to Sam's parents upon their entrance smiled and moved toward the teens.

"How you doing, son? Is your name Sam?"

"Yeah." Sam's voice shook slightly as he frowned in confusion.

"Well I need you to come with me." Sam's dad cut in then, protesting against his son going anywhere with the strange men. As the two older men argued back and forth, Andi scanned the room, trying to find some way to get out of the house. Unfortunately, it seemed that an escape would be impossible. The house and yard were crawling with the suited men. They were all taking readings and samples of various bits of plants and dirt and the like. Andi hoped fervently that Axle and the others had listened to her and gotten away while they had the chance.

Glancing back at Sam's dad and the Man-in-black that he was arguing with, she frowned when a second agent approached him and whispered something in his ear. She strained to hear it.

"I think direct contact."

The first agent turned back to the group then, and asked Sam to step forward. Sam cautiously did as he was asked. The second agent handed the first a Geiger counter. He raised the counter towards Sam, and was met with an immediate beeping response. His eyebrows rose in surprise and what Andi thought was delight.

"Fourteen rads. Bingo! Tag 'em and bag 'em!"

Before Andi even realized what was happening, she found her hands handcuffed behind her back. She and the others were then paraded out of Sam's house and toward one of the black SUV's. Knowing it would be pointless to fight against the agent holding her, she calmly walked toward the SUV with Sam and Mikaela close behind.

Outwardly, she remained silent, however, it didn't stop her from grumbling within her mind. Wasn't this just perfect? It was only several hours ago that she had escaped arrest by the FBI, and now look at her. Twice in one day she faced potential arrest, within several hours of each other at that…it was a new personal record. For some reason, she felt that she should feel rather proud of that. Then again, she'd feel even better if her hands weren't currently cuffed behind her back.

As she was placed in the back seat of the SUV with Sam and Mikaela, she gazed out of the window towards Sam's backyard. She couldn't see into the alley from here, but she hoped that it was empty. If these men were to find Axle and the others now, there's no telling what they would do. But that wasn't the most important thing right now. What was important was that Sam currently had his great grandfather's glasses in his pocket, and no way of getting it to the Autobots. They needed to give those glasses to Optimus and the others, or their world faced total destruction. Andi sighed. In the words of Optimus Prime, they were running out of time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There you go, the next installment of our exciting adventure. I know a lot was left out of the yard scene, but there was just too much to get it all in. And Andi wouldn't have been able to see or hear everything, so I had to pick and choose. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Please, leave me a review and let me know what you think. <strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter and who is still reading! It means a lot! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Of Over Egotistical Men<strong>

Andi stared out of the SUV's window as they continued on away from Sam's house. She half expected to see Axle or one of the other Autobots driving next to them, but no such luck. They had been driving for ten minutes now in complete silence. Sam and Mikaela were throwing worried glances back and forth between each other, while Andi watched the scenery pass by. The agents sat in the front seat, one driving, the other, the one which had spoken to them at Sam's, was studying Sam's cell phone and reading messages being sent to him on his own phone. The silence lasted only a few more moments before Agent one finally turned in his seat to face them.

He was holding Sam's cell phone up, the screen facing towards them. "So, LadiesMan217. That is your eBay username, right?" Andi couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Oh, Sam," she muttered in exasperation. He had the decency to blush and look embarrassed.

"Yeah, but, you know, it was a typo and I ran with it."

"What do you make of this?" Sam's voice began echoing back at them from his phone. It was a pre-recorded message.

"My name is Sam Witwicky, okay? And my car is alive…"

"Is that you?"

"Yeah, that sounds like LadiesMan," Mikaela conceded. By her tone, Andi could tell that Mikaela was just as exasperated with Sam as she was.

"Last night at the station, you told the officer your car transformed. Enlighten me." As Sam stuttered through an explanation about how it was just a big misunderstanding, Andi fought to retain her cool. Sam obviously didn't perform well under pressure.

"…from me, from my home, but it's fine now because it's back! It came back!" He stuttered.

"Well, not by itself." Ah yes, Mikaela to the rescue.

"Well, no."

"Because cars don't do that, because that would be crazy." The occupants of the car burst out in loud, fake laughter. Andi, however, refused to take part in the madness. She just shook her head and turned back to staring out the window.

"That's funny. That is so funny…So what do you kids know about aliens?" The sudden change of topic both ended the laughter immediately and drew Andi's attention once again.

"Oh, you mean, like a Martian? Like what, ET? No." Sam laughed trying to brush the subject off.

"It's an urban legend," Mikaela once again tried to rectify the situation.

However, Andi knew that as long as the two continued talking, they were just going to continue digging themselves into a deeper hole. Turning to them she all but growled at them. "Guys, stop talking!" The two grew quiet and threw her sheepish looks. This seemed to annoy the agent as he then reached into his breast pocket and whipped out a badge, which he held up to them.

"You see this? This is an I-can-do-whatever-I-want and-get-away-with-it-badge." Andi leaned forward slightly to get a better look at the badge. It had his name, Agent Simmons, and the name of his organization, Sector Seven. She frowned at that. Sector Seven had been in part of the signal which she and Glen had decoded. Who was this guy? What was Sector Seven? A wannabe M.I.B.?

She was drawn back into the conversation as she heard Simmons snap at Mikaela. "You, in the training bra, do not test me. Especially with your daddy's parole coming up."

"What? Parole?" Sam was confused. Hell, Andi was confused too. Mikaela's dad was in prison?

"It's nothing," she tried to brush the comment off. But Simmons wouldn't let her.

"Oh, grand theft auto, that ain't nothing?"

Mikaela turned to Sam. "You know those cars my dad used to teach me to fix? Well, they…they weren't always his." She sounded nervous, and Andi noticed that she couldn't look Sam in the eyes as she spoke.

"You stole cars?" Sam sounded more upset than Andi thought he had any right to. It wasn't like Mikaela had lied to him, just not told him everything. Besides, as far as Andi knew, the two weren't even together yet.

"Well, we couldn't always afford a babysitter, so sometimes he had to take me along," Mikaela answered, trying to justify her father's actions.

"She's got her own juvie record to prove it!" Simmons interrupted, "She's a criminal. Criminals are hot. That'd be a real shame if he had to rot in jail the rest of his natural life." Andi scowled then at the man, furious on Mikaela's behalf.

"Do you always hit on and then threaten your suspects? Or just the teenage girls?" She all but spat at him, drawing his attention away from Mikaela.

"Don't think that I don't know who you are, missy." Andi raised an eyebrow in question. "Andrea Hammond, alias Access10. Hacker extraordinaire. You are wanted by the feds for hacking into several government systems."

"Prove it."

"What?"

"There is absolutely no proof that I've hacked anything. You don't have a single piece of evidence that incriminates me. Who's to say that I'm even this Access person? You're all talk." She paused for a moment and stared him down. "Does this ever work? This weak attempt at tricking me into incriminating myself? Because really, it's pathetic."

Simmons glared at her. Before he could form a retort, however, the other agent slammed on the brakes before the car ran into a large object standing in the middle of the road. Chaos reigned for several moments as a bright light engulfed the car as it spun out and Andi and the others shouted in confusion until it came to a sudden and unexpected stop as two giant hands grabbed onto the hood of the SUV, it's fingers breaking the windows as it lifted them off of the ground. Andi jerked her head away from the window to avoid a spray of glass. The occupants shouted in surprise as they bounced about in their seats. The car shook up and down several times before the hood separated from the frame of the car and they dropped back down to the ground.

Standing above them was Optimus Prime, the hood of the SUV in his hands, and his bright lights shining down on them. Shutting off his lights, he glared down at the agents who had assembled around the destroyed car and were now pointing their guns up at him.

"Oh, you A-holes are in trouble now," Sam stated. "Gentlemen, I want to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime."

"Taking the children was a bad move," Optimus growled. "Autobots, relieve them of their weapons." From a bridge behind them, Axle and the others appeared and made their way, weapons armed and ready, towards the group of shocked men.

Upon their approach, Jazz held out one of his arms which had some sort of shield attached to it which drew the guns out of the agents hands and to him. "Gimme those!" he growled.

Now unarmed, the agents all held their hands up in surrender, as Simmons tried to gain some kind of control over the situation. Optimus knelt down then, and leaned in close to the demolished car that Andi and the others were still sitting in. Simmons waved his hand and tried to grin up at Optimus.

"Hi there!" he waived.

"You don't seem afraid. Are you not surprised to see us?"

"Look, there are S-Seven protocols, okay? I'm not authorized to communicate with you except to tell you I can't communicate with you."

Optimus did not seem content with his answer. "Get out of the car," he growled. "Now!"

"All right, all right. Get out. Hey. All right, I'm getting out. I'm getting out. You see? Very nifty how you put us down without really killing us." As Simmons mumbled to himself, Andi stepped out of the remains of the car followed by Sam and Mikaela.

"Hey, Andi, hold still. I'll get the cuffs off you."

"Huh?" Andi glanced over her shoulder and raised a surprised eyebrow as she watched Mikaela pick the lock on her cuffs. That was unexpected. It only took a matter of seconds before the cuffs were off. She rubbed her wrists as she turned to Mikaela. "Thanks. That's an awfully handy trick," she grinned at the younger girl.

Mikaela smirked in return. "Don't I know it." She walked away then to head toward Sam and remove his cuffs.

Andi left her to her work and turned toward the assembled Autobots. She grinned when she spotted Axle starring down a group of agents from behind one of his cannons. He seemed more agitated than usual, and she realized he was probably rather pissed at the men who dared to steal her away from him. She sighed; he was such a worrywart. She headed toward him, intending to reassure him that she was safe.

"Oh, so you're good with handcuffs now too?" Andi heard Sam mutter as Mikaela worked on his handcuffs. Walking past him she cuffed him upside the head again.

"Don't be an ass, Sam." He rubbed his head and scowled at her as she walked by.

She continued past the assembled group of agents, and straight toward Axle, who knelt at her approach. She set a reassuring hand on one of his legs and grinned up at him.

"Hey, Axe. Miss me?"

"Are you alright, Andrea?" He sounded concerned.

"Yeah, big guy, I'm fine."

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't intentionally put yourself in harms way again."

Andi rolled her eyes, but continued to smile up at him. "Yes, mother."

He scowled at her slightly. "Not funny."

"I know, but you worry too much. It was necessary at the time; there was nothing else I could have done. Besides, I'm fine. No harm, no foul."

His scowl turned into a confused frown. "What?"

"Never mind," she chuckled, "Earth saying." Her attention was pulled away then by Simmons yelling behind her. She turned in time to see Bumblebee pee on the disgruntled agent. She didn't even bother to muffle her laughter. She left Axle then to head toward Sam and Mikaela who were discussing what to do with the agents.

"What do you think, Andi?" Sam asked her on her approach. "We can't just leave them here to follow us."

Andi shrugged and glanced at the group of men still standing with their arms raised in the classic surrender gesture. "Cuff them together. It'll take them a little bit of time to get out." Sam and Mikaela nodded in agreement and the three went about cuffing the men together in a long line. Simmons was the last to join the chain and before Andi could place the cuffs on him, Mikaela stopped her and addressed him.

"All right, tough guy, take it off."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned in confusion.

"Your clothes, all of it, off."

"For what?" Now he sounded indignant.

"For threatening my dad."

"Little lady, this is the beginning of the end of your life. You're a criminal. Let's face facts. It's in your gene pool." As he spoke, he proceeded to take off his jacket and white shirt, revealing an undershirt with a modified Superman logo on it, which now contained an S7 instead of just an S. Andi smirked when she saw it.

"Well isn't that just precious. Think of that all on your own?" He glared at her, but continued undressing, pulling down his dress pants to reveal tie-dyed Hawaiian boxers.

"Those are nice. Now get behind the pole." Mikaela grabbed the cuffs from Andi and fastened them on Simmons herself.

"This is such a felony what you're doing," Simmons' right hand man stated. The kids ignored him.

"I will hunt you down. Without any remorse!" Ignoring him as well, they left the men and headed back towards the waiting bots. Sam opened his mouth to speak to Optimus when the sounds of helicopters and speeding cars filled the air.

Andi sighed in frustration. "What now?" she grumbled.

It was Ironhide who answered her. "Optimus! Incoming!"

Optimus nodded and turned to the other bots. "Autobots, roll out!" Andi watched as Axle and the others transformed and sped off into the night. Optimus turned then to the trio standing by his feet. "Up you go, you three." He knelt down and offered the three his hands to climb into. Andi climbed into one, while Sam and Mikaela crawled into the other. Optimus set the three on his shoulders, Sam and Mikaela on his right, Andi on his left. Andi settled herself next to his exhaust pipe, and held on for dear life.

As soon as he was sure they were situated, Optimus took off running, as the sounds of speeding cars and helicopters grew ever closer. He ran past the bridge they had been standing near and entered the busy city streets. Andi watched, impressed, as he carefully avoided all of the cars driving down the street. Being careful not to step on a single one of them. He left the street then, successfully losing the helicopters around a turn, and headed down a concrete embankment leading to the river. He ran until he was under an overpass and then proceeded to swing himself up into concrete support under the bridge.

Stretching himself between two beams he steadied himself and spoke quietly to the three on his shoulders. "Easy, you three." Andi watched with baited breathe as one helicopter flew along the river beneath them. The wind from the helicopters blades was fierce, and had she not been firmly situated she would have fallen. It seemed, however, that while she remained seated, Mikaela had not. Andi watched in horror as the girl slipped from Optimus' shoulder and fell only to be stopped when Sam grabbed her hand. Sam hung on to Mikaela with one hand and Optimus with the other. As the two dangled precariously, yet another helicopter passed beneath Optimus, as the two yelled out in fear.

"I'm slipping! I'm slipping!" Mikeala cried.

"Hold on!" Optimus shouted. Then Mikeala and Sam were falling.

In an attempt to slow their fall, Optimus released his leg hold and swung down, clipping Sam and Mikeala as they fell, but not stopping them. There was a flash of yellow below them, and before the two could hit the ground Bumblebee caught them in his hands, sparing them from a painful impact with the ground. Unfortunately, Andi was not so lucky. When Optimus swung forward, Andi lost her own grip and fell off of his shoulders. Releasing a brief cry of surprise, she fell, hit his foot, and somehow managed to find a grip.

"Optimus!"

"Hold on, Andrea!"

But she could not. Losing her grip, she fell the remaining fifteen feet to the ground, and hit with a painful shout. She lay still for a moment before attempting to move. Groaning, she pushed herself up off of the concrete into a sitting position, her ribs and right shoulder aching fiercely. She worried momentarily that she may have busted a few of her ribs or her shoulder. A rotation of her shoulder proved it to not be broken but bruised and scraped badly. Breathing, however, currently hurt more than it should.

Shaking her head, she went to stand when she heard an anguished cry from Sam "No!" Turning towards the cry, she saw Bumblebee being circled by helicopters, which were snaring his arms and legs with grappling hooks and wires. Standing quickly, ignoring the ache, she raced toward the group but only made it halfway there when she was grabbed by an armed militant officer in black and dragged to the ground.

"Get off me! Let go!" She cursed and fought against his hold, trying to twist out of his grip so that she could help Bumblebee who had been forced to the ground and was crying out pitiful metallic cries. Andi's heart broke for the young, scared bot. She wondered briefly why Optimus wasn't trying to help him, but then realized that he would more than likely be forced to injure several humans if he were to try. Which wasn't something he wasn't willing to risk, she knew.

Her attempt to escape was useless, and soon she found herself on the ground, her hands once again cuffed behind her back. She hissed in pain and growled furiously. Arrested…again. Twice in less than one hour! It just wasn't her day. The officer hauled her none to gently to her feet and directed her toward yet another black SUV. Turning to her left, she stole one last glance at a now frozen Bumblebee, and frowned in concern. They had better not hurt him. She then turned to her left and watched as Sam and Mikaela were pushed inside the SUV ahead of her, while an entirely too smug looking Agent Simmons watched from the sidelines. By the time she reached him, he was smirking openly at her.

"Miss Hammond, what a pleasure. It's so good to see you again."

"I'm sure," she replied dryly. She then noticed that he was once again wearing pants and had a flack vest on to cover his undershirt. She smirked up at him. "Why, Agent Simmons, I do hope that you didn't cover up that wonderful undershirt on my account. That would be an awful shame; the Super Seven logo was very clever. You could probably make a pretty penny if you sold them to your fellow agents. Hell, you could start your own Justice League!"

She felt more than heard the officer behind her chuckle before he coughed slightly to cover it up. Simmons' smirk immediately disappeared and was replaced with a furious scowl. "Get her in," her ordered the officer. Andi was helped into the back seat, and then the door was slammed in her face. It didn't stop the slightly evil looking grin from forming on her face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phew! That chapter was a bear to write. I'm not really that happy with it…it's not one of my favorites anyway. Oh well. I hope you all enjoyed it at least! The next chapter deviates from the movie a bit, but I feel it's necessary to explore how exactly it was that Sam and the others all came to be in the same helicopter. Should be fun! Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sorry for the late update, life happened…It always bothered me a bit in the movie about how Sam and the others came to be in the same helicopter considering they were coming from different sides of the country. So, I created an answer to this question and changed things up a bit as far as conversation placement and what not. I think it worked out nicely. Hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Of New and Old Friends<strong>

Hands cuffed and resting on her lap, Andi yawned, winced as her ribs protested, shifted in her seat, craned her neck, and glanced at the car's radio display to try and see the time. 2:32 A.M. Settling back again, she released a great breath of air. Sector Seven had cuffed and stuffed she, Sam, and Mikaela in the SUV at 11:20, so they'd been driving now for 3 hours and 12 minutes. And they were still going. She didn't even know where they were going. Not exactly, anyway. She knew they were currently heading south, the occasional sign on the side of the road told her that much. She also knew that they were somewhere in the middle of nowhere, as was displayed by the total darkness around them. Not even a street light.

Turning to her left, Andi glanced at her fellow criminals and smirked. They were currently both sleeping; Mikaela had her head resting on Sam's shoulder while his head rested on hers. She rolled her eyes. _Isn't that just too cute?_ She momentarily considered waking them up if only to see their reactions when they noticed their positioning. She nixed the idea, deciding instead to let them sleep. It had been a busy day for all of them, those two especially. They deserved whatever rest they could get.

She yawned and winced again. Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. A nap might do her good. Leaning to her right, she rested her forehead against the cool window of the car door and stared out into the vast nothingness that encompassed their vehicle. It was disconcerting not knowing where they were being taken. Slowly, her eyelids closed, and before she succumbed to sleep, she found herself wondering when she would be able to see Axle again.

* * *

><p>6:15 A.M. Sunrise. Andi had woken an hour after she had fallen asleep, and now, three hours later, she was witnessing one on the most breathtaking sunrises she had ever seen. Not that she was often up early enough to watch the sun come up. She wondered then if Axle was watching the sunrise now as well. She sighed in frustration at the thought and leaned back into her seat. Enough was enough! Just thinking about him wasn't going to bring him to her.<p>

Axle had been the main subject of her thoughts since she woke up three hours earlier. She missed the big guy; that was for certain. This was the longest they had been parted from each other since his arrival. Before, if they were ever apart, Andi had at least known _where_ he was. Now, she couldn't help but be worried about him and the others. She knew that he would be worried about her as well. She grinned softly at the thought. He was such a worrywart. But she also knew that he had more important things to be doing than to be thinking about her.

Upon the teens' initial placement into the SUV following Bee's capture, they soon found that Sam no longer had his great grandfather's glasses in his pocket. He guessed that they must have fallen out sometime around when he and Mikaela fell off of Optimus. Andi hoped that the Autobots had found the glasses. If they had, Axle would be busy now trying to help find the All Spark, and would have very little time to think about her. She trusted him and the other bots and knowing that they were close to finding the spark was a great relief.

The SUV slowed then, and she frowned in confusion as the car turned off of the paved road they had been on and onto a nondescript dirt road. The road was bumpy and it wasn't long before the two still sleeping teens next to her were shaken awake.

Sam jumped, startled. "Huh? What? Where are we?" Andi smirked as he tried to discreetly wipe away the drool from his chin. Mikaela, who had realized she had been sleeping on Sam, refused to make eye contact with the boy.

"I'm not sure, exactly," Andi answered, as she leaned forward trying to get a better view of where they were heading. In the distance she could make out a large fence and as they drew closer she could make out a group of buildings within the fenced area. Before long, they had reached a guarded gate in the fence, and next to the entrance was a sign. "Nellis Air Force Base?" Andi questioned. "No way. We're near Vegas? We drove all the way to Vegas? What the hell?"

They continued past the gate, and entered the base. They passed several buildings, bunkers, an airstrip, and finally came to a stop near a small building situated next to a bunker and a helicopter landing pad. The pad was currently empty. The SUV came to a stop and the teens were let out of the back seat. They followed the officer into the building and through a series of white hallways. They stopped in front of a door with the word "Lounge" written in black on it. Upon entering the room, the officer released them from their handcuffs as he told them what was going on.

"You are to wait in here until someone comes to get you. You are not to leave this room. The door will be guarded." With that, he walked out the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

Andi shared a look with Sam and Mikaela, she shrugged, "Well, it could be worse."

"How's that exactly?" Sam questioned as he sat down on a couch facing the door.

"We could still be in cuffs." Mikaela stated as she took a seat on the couch next to Sam.

"Not that that would ever stop you," Andi said, giving the younger girl a smile to let her know she was teasing her. She sat down in an armchair opposite them, her back to the door and winced yet again as her ribs protested.

Sam caught the brief wince and looked to her in concern. "Are you alright?"

She grimaced a smile at him. "I'm ok, Sam. I think I just bruised a few ribs when I fell off Optimus."

"You sure?" Mikaela asked. "There's probably a medic on base that could take a look."

"I promise I'm fine. The pains not that bad anymore. I'm adjusting to it. Besides, there's not much they can do for bruised ribs," she shrugged. "You grin and bare it."

The two younger teens shared a look but nodded in agreement and left her to settle in her seat. She made herself comfortable and settled in for the wait.

* * *

><p>The trio had been sitting in the lounge room for close to an hour; no one had entered the room since their arrival. As such, they all jumped slightly as the door to the room opened and a small group of people entered.<p>

"You can wait in here until the helicopters are ready, Mr. Secretary. We should be ready to go in about fifteen minutes."

"Alright. Thank you, private."

Andi, whose chair was facing away from the door, carefully twisted around and shot a look at the doorway, eyeing the new-comers. The first to walk in the room was Secretary of Defense, John Keller; she recognized him from the news. It was the two figures which followed behind him that caused Andi to gasp in surprise. Glen and Maggie.

"No way," she whispered.

Her sudden exclamation caught the attention of those walking into the room and it was Glen who predictably reacted the loudest. "Andi! What are ya doing here, girl?"

Andi stood and made her way around the chair, nodding to her friend. "Hey, Glen. I could ask you the same thing." She turned to Maggie and smiled, "Hello, Maggie. It's nice to meet you in person."

"Aw man, girl, did you get caught by the feds? 'Cause if you did, I'm real sorry about that," he rubbed at the back of his neck and looked at the ground sheepishly.

Andi waved his concerns away. "Don't worry about it. You're not the reason I'm here."

"And what would be that reason, young lady?" Secretary Keller inquired. "Who are you? What are you three doing here? And how do the three of you know each other?"

As Sam and Mikaela made their way towards the others, Andi began introductions. "I'm Andrea Hammond, this is Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. We were brought here by Sector Seven."

"What did they get you for?" Maggie questioned.

Sam answered for the three of them. "I bought a car, turned out to be an alien robot," he shrugged, "who knew?" Andi smiled at Glen and Maggie's surprised looks and Keller's thoughtful one.

"So you actually met one of the aliens?" he questioned the group.

Andi and the others exchanged glances trying to silently decide how much information to give. Without speaking a word, they decided to tell the truth, it would do no good to lie now, least of all to the Secretary of Defense.

"Yes, sir," Andi answered. "Several actually."

"Several?"

Sam nodded this time. "Yeah, but they mean us no harm. They want to help us."

"Help us, you say? They attack one of our bases and hack into our security network and you say they mean us no harm? That's a poor way to start a working relationship, son."

"That wasn't them!" Andi was quick to defend. "The ones that attacked the base in Qatar and hacked your network, the ones who left that signal, are not the ones which we know." She realized too late that she had said more than she should have.

"Oh?" Keller questioned, turning on Andi, "And how is it exactly that you know about that signal at all, Miss Hammond?" Andi cringed slightly at his tone of voice. She really didn't want the SecDef to be pissed off at her.

"Um, well you see," she was cut off then by Glen.

"Actually, that's our fault, sir."

Keller turned on him and Maggie. "Explain."

"When Maggie came to me with the signal to decode, I couldn't get it all and called Andi for help. She's the one who completed the decoding." Keller raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" Turning back to Andi, "So you're a hacker to, then?" She nodded hesitantly. "You decoded that signal in a matter of hours, that's mighty impressive. Not even my analysts could break it."

Andi blushed slightly, "I couldn't have done it without Glen and Maggie's help, sir."

"Be that as it may, I won't forget the work you've done. If we all survive this little invasion, I may have a job opening for you along with Miss Madsen and Mr. Whitmore."

"Really? Uh, wow. Thank you, sir," Andi stuttered. _Yeah, he says that now…wait until he learns I've been hiding Axle in my garage for a month._

Before the conversation could continue, the door to the lounge opened once again. An air force officer entered and gestured for the group to follow him. "We're ready to go. Follow me." Andi and the others retraced their initial path out of the base and onto a helicopter landing pad. Two helicopters were laying in wait for their passengers to board. The group was split then, the teens were herded onto the first helicopter while Keller and several other men entered the second.

As soon as everyone was seated and buckled in, the helicopters took off. Each of the occupants were given a headset to wear so that they could communicate with each other. It wasn't long after take off that Andi found herself facing the firing squad.

"Alright, girl, spill. How'd you get involved in this mess? And don't go giving me no shit about how you happened to be in the right place at the right time. I won't buy it."

"Yeah, Andi. I noticed earlier that you didn't say anything about Axle to Secretary Keller. And how do you know these guys, anyway?"

"Axle?"

And glared at the two boys who had begun the interrogation. She huffed in frustration at their lack of reaction, and rolled her eyes. "Axle's a friend," she began, answering Glen's question. She went on then to explain how she had met the bot, and everything that had happened since then.

"You mean to say, you've known about all this for a month now and didn't say anything to anyone?" Maggie questioned.

Andi shrugged. "Yeah. Axle trusts me and I trust him with my life. I would never betray him like that. I've already watched him fight to protect me once, it's only right that I return the favor. If the only way that I can protect him is by keeping his secrets, than I will."

"And if he had been one of those bad aliens? What then?"

"Well, I imagine I wouldn't have ever had the chance to make a choice, I'd be dead."

Sam interrupted then, "I still want to know how you guys know each other."

Andi turned to Sam. "As I told Secretary Keller, I'm a hacker."

"Like the kind that can crack into programs and websites and other systems and such?"

Andi cringed at the very basic description of what he believed hackers to do. She wasn't going to correct him, it would take too long to explain. "Yeah, Sam, kind of like that. Anyway, I've known Glen for years. We've actually only met in person three times now. Most of the time we keep in touch through the web." She went on to explain about the signal Glen had asked her to decode, and her flight from the FBI.

"Huh. Small world," Mikaela surmised when she had finished.

Andi grinned. "No kidding." She turned to glance out the window next to her then and was surprised to see where they were heading. "Whoa. Guys, look. It's the Hoover Dam." The others turned to the windows and watched as the helicopters drew closer to the dam.

"This is where they're taking us, to the Dam?" Mikaela questioned. "Why would they bring us here?"

No one could answer her. Andi sat back as the helicopters began their decent, and pondered what could possibly happen next.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, there you have it. Not very exciting, I know, but necessary. Got to love the filler chapters. <strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Filler….:shrug: what ya gonna do? Getting to the good parts though. And nearing the end. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Of Questions Answered<strong>

Upon arriving at the dam, Andi and the others exited the helicopters and once again entered several SUVs, which drove them to the top of the dam. They exited the cars and after stopping to look over the edge of the dam, headed towards a walkway suspended over the dam. Upon reaching the walkway, Secretary Keller moved forward to speak with a group of army rangers and the teens were greeted by their good friend, Agent Simmons.

"Hey, kid. I think we got off to a bad start, huh? You must be hungry. You want a latte? HoHo? Double venti macchiato?" He asked Sam.

"Where's my car?"

Another man joined Simmons; Andi assumed he was Simmons' boss. "Son, I need you to listen to me very carefully. People can die here. We need to know everything you know. We need to know it now."

"Okay. But first, I'll take my car, my parents. Maybe you should write that down. Oh, and her juvie record. That's got to be gone. Like, forever."

"Come with me. We'll talk about your car." Sam and Mikaela began to follow the suited man, while Andi paused and glared at Simmons.

"You know, I still don't like you," she stated. "Just because we have to work together now doesn't mean that's going to change."

"The feeling's mutual, Miss Hammond. Trust me."

Andi nodded, content with that answer. "Good. As long as we agree on that point, we'll be fine." She turned and jogged a bit to catch up with Sam and the others who were now heading into the dam.

As the group followed the Sector Seven men into the dam, Andi, Sam, and Mikaela were able to learn the names of the Rangers' Captain and Sergeant. Captain Will Lennox and Sergeant Bobby Epps. It wasn't long before Andi figured out that they were survivors of the attack on Qatar's military base. Each one of them looked tired and ragged; yet still completely composed. The group soon found themselves within the bowels of the dam's structure.

"Alright, here's the situation. You've all had direct contact with the NBEs." Simmons began.

"NBEs?" Epps asked.

"Non-Biological Extraterrestrials. Try and keep up with the acronyms." Andi rolled her eyes but refused to comment.

"What you're about to see is totally classified." Simmons' boss, Banachek, continued. The group entered a large underground bunker filled with men and equipment, and there in the center of the room was a sight which drew the breath from Andi's chest. Megatron, in all his frozen glory. Her pulse quickened slightly at the sight of him. He was terrifying to see. She never imagined she would ever be this close to the psychotic warlord.

"Dear God, what is this?" Keller stuttered. _Yup, that's about how I feel too. _

"We think when he made his approach over the North Pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry. He crashed in the ice, probably a few thousand years ago. We shipped him here to this facility in 1934."

"We call him NBE One," Simmons input.

"Well, sir, I don't mean to correct you on everything you think you know, but, I mean, that's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons," Sam corrected.

"They are the ones who attacked Qatar, and hacked your system, sir," Andi addressed Secretary Keller.

"He's been in cryostasis since 1935. Your great-great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind." Banachek informed Sam.

"Fact is, you're looking at the source of the modern age, the microchip, lasers, spaceflight, cars, all reverse-engineered by studying him. NBE One. That's what we call it." Once again Andi caught herself rolling her eyes at Simmons' pompous behavior.

"And you didn't think that the United States military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?" Keller inquired.

Banachek tried to justify their actions. "Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security."

"Well you've got one now."

"So why Earth?" Captain Lennox asked, returning to the matter at hand.

"It's the All Spark," Andi answered.

"All Spark? What is that?"

Sam took over the explanation. "They came here looking for some sort of cube-looking thing. Anyway, Mr. NBE One here, AKA Megatron, that's what they call him, who's pretty much the harbinger of death, wants to use the Cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That's their plan."

"And you're sure about that?" Simmons questioned.

Andi and Sam shared a look and shrugged. "Yeah," she stated. She paused then and narrowed her eyes at the two Sector Seven men in front of her as they shared a subtle glance. Realization dawned in her mind. "Are you serious! You know where it is, don't you? The Cube."

The men shared another look before turning to lead the group down another passage. "Follow me."

Andi soon found herself entering a small yellow tiled room. Along one wall were several windows overlooking yet another giant bunker. And in the center of that bunker, was a massive cube, covered in familiar hieroglyphics. The All Spark. Her attention riveted on the sight in front of her, she zoned out the voices around her as she studied the cube. The Spark was nothing like she imagined it to be, when Axle first told her about it. She had thought as the time that it was some kind of energy. Well, apparently she was partially right. When the Autobots referred to it as the "Cube," Andi hadn't considered the idea that it might literally be a giant cube.

Then there were the hieroglyphics interweaving along the surface of the cube. The same hieroglyphics that she had seen the night that Axle had crash landed. The hieroglyphics which she had traced before he had unfolded himself. Thinking about Axle, she briefly wondered how he was doing, and where he was now. Little did she know that he was on his way to her now. Maggie's question about the kind of energy the cube gave off drew Andi from her thoughts, and she followed the group as they were led out of the control room and to steel plated room which was locked behind them.

In the center of the room was a glass box. There was a bunch of wiring connected to the box and after following the track of the wiring up to the ceiling and along the wall, Andi saw that it was connected to a breaker box and console in the corner of the room. Simmons made his way to that breaker while the group studied the room. She turned and watched as Glen studied one of the steel walls in the room that looked like something with sharp claws had attacked it.

Epps approached the wall and studied it. "What's that? Freddy Krueger done been up in here or something?"

"Oh, no, man. Freddy Krueger have four blades, man. That's only three. That's Wolverine! Right? That's Wolverine!" As Glen began laughing loudly, Andi step forward and punched him in the arm. "Ow! Girl!"

"Shut up, Glen."

Simmons then proceeded to demonstrate just what exactly the energy from the cube could do. Taking Glen's cell phone, he flipped a switch on the breaker and zapped the phone with a burst of energy, causing it to transform into a mini-bot with a bad temper. The little guy in the box went haywire, and just as it seemed that he might be able to break out of the box, Simmons hit another button and fried the little sucker.

Before more could be said, there was a sudden shaking of the room, and the lights flickered. A faint boom resounded through the thick walls of the dam. Andi braced herself as the shaking continued, the sudden unexpected movement causing her ribs to protest.

"Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here," Keller stated the obvious.

Banachek ran to an intercom and pressed down on the receiver. "Banachek. What's going on?"

The voice that responded was static, yet comprehensible, Andi felt a chill race up her spine at the news. "The NBE One chamber has lost power, and the backup generator is just not gonna cut it."

As Banachek panicked, Captain Lennox approached him and asked, "Do you have an arms room?"

No sooner had the doors to the steel room opened than Andi found herself racing along with the group through the dam. Banachek shouted orders as he went, and before long, they arrived at a heavily stocked arms room, complete with vehicles, guns and ammunition. Lennox and his men went to work arming themselves, loading their chosen weapons with provided sabot rounds.

Andi, Sam, Mikaela, Glen and Maggie stood off to the side of the room, trying to stay out of the way. However, Sam paced anxiously. "I need to find Bumblebee. He'll know what to do," he mumbled before making a beeline for Simmons. "You've got to take me to my car. He's gonna know what to do with the Cube."

Simmons scoffed. "Your car? It's confiscated."

"Then unconfiscate it," Sam demanded.

But Simmons would not give in. "We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing! Maybe you know, but I don't know."

"You just wanna sit here and wait and see what happens?"

"I have people's lives at stake here, young man!" Simmons shouted. Faster than Andi could blink, Simmons soon found himself being held at gunpoint by Captain Lennox.

"Take him to his car!" The Captain demanded, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Andi watched, wide-eyed as the military men faced off with sector seven. The tension level in the room had noticeably risen and soon the two factions stood in a standoff with one another, Lennox and Simmons in the center of it all. _Men. There is far too much testosterone in this room. _

It took the threat of being shot for Simmons to give in and consent to leading the group to where Bumblebee was being held. But give in he did. Once again, Andi found herself racing through hallways, surrounded by many heavily armed men, until they entered a smaller bunker which held a struggling, crying Bumblebee. The young bot was being constrained to a metal slab while sector seven officers sprayed him with a frozen mixture that kept him immobile.

Andi's heart bled for the young, terrorized bot. His cries were heart wrenching, reminding her of when he was initially captured in the riverbed last night. As Sam and Banachek ordered the men to stop their assault and let Bee go, Andi watched and couldn't help but feel guilt when the thought that she was glad Axle hadn't been taken as well passed briefly through her mind. _Now is not the time_, she thought furiously.

Once he was released, Bee immediately went into a defensive stance, lowering his head visor, and firing up one of his cannons. It took Sam everything he had to calm the bot down.

"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, right? Listen to me. The Cube is here and the Decepticons are coming. No, no, don't worry about them. They're okay. Right? They're not gonna hurt you. Okay, come on. Put the guns down. They're not gonna hurt you. Here, come with me. I'm gonna take you to the All Spark."

Bee seemed to respond well to Sam's reassurances and follow the boy out of the chamber and into the bunker which held the All Spark. Bee approached the spark reverently, and tentatively held out his arms to the giant cube. Andi and the rest stared as upon Bee's touching of the cube, it began to retract into itself until before long Bumblebee was able to hold the thing in one hand. Bee turned to the group then and addressed the assembly.

"Message from Starfleet, Captain. Lets get to it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: To be continued. <strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: WOO! Sorry for the long wait. Life has been crazy lately. But, we're nearing the end. Only a few chapters left and then I will start posting the sequel. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think. ^^**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: Of Reunions<strong>

"Message from Starfleet, Captain. Lets get to it."

Bee's proclamation was met with a flurry of activity. Captain Lennox took the lead. "He's right. We stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hanger. Mission City is 22 miles away. We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city."

Secretary Keller immediately agreed. "Good! Right."

"But we cannot make a stand without the Air Force."

Keller nodded in agreement and then turned to Simmons. "This place must have some kind of radio link! Shortwave…CB."

"Right, yes."

Lennox interrupted them. "Sir, you got to figure out some way to get word out to them," he turned away then and motioned for his men. "Let's move!"

Andi listened as Keller and Simmons began discussing possible radios they could use. She then heard Lennox yell for Sam to get in a now transformed Bumblebee. She bit her lip as indecision coursed through her. On the one hand, she could go with Sam and Mikaela and help them protect the Cube…and see Axle. On the other hand, Glen and Maggie might need some help with getting a message out to the Air Force.

"Andi! C'mon!" She turned as she heard Sam call out to her and motion for her to get in the car. She shook her head and waved him off, telling him to go on ahead. He studied her for a moment before nodding and entering Bee.

Lennox was giving Secretary Keller last minute instructions and Andi knew she only had a few seconds to make up her mind before the decision was made for her. She turned to Glen then and noticed him staring at her. He shook his head and smiled. "Go ahead, girl."

She frowned. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I got this. I can tell you want to go. You won't be any good to us if you ain't concentrated on the here and now, anyway."

Andi smiled before hugging her friend. "Thanks, Glen. Good luck. I'll see you when this is all over."

He awkwardly patted her back, before pushing her away in the direction of Lennox and his men. "Yeah. Take care, Andi. Be careful."

"You to." She turned then and ran towards Lennox and his men who were preparing to leave. "Captain Lennox! I'm coming with you."

Lennox didn't even complain, he just nodded and pushed her into one of the military vehicles before preparing to enter the driver's side himself. "Set a perimeter around the yellow vehicle!" After yelling out a final order, he strapped himself in and led the military convoy out of the dam and away from Megatron.

* * *

><p>They had been driving for some time now, and Andi had spent most of the time listening in on Lennox and Epps' impromptu strategy meeting in the front seat. They were currently arguing over the best way to have the helicopter come in and pick up the cube. For the most part, she drowned them out. Suddenly, the two men stopped arguing. She turned from her side view then, to look out the front window, and was shocked by what she saw. There, in the distance, driving towards them was the most beautiful sight Andi had seen all day. It was the Autobots. With Optimus in the lead, they were racing towards the military convoy. As the line of bots crested a hill, Andi caught her first glimpse of blue and white, and her heart clenched in her chest.<p>

"Axle."

"Incoming. Possible bad guys. Prepare to fire only on my command." Andi panicked slightly as she heard Lennox's order to his munitions man sitting by the gun in the back. She turned on him, trying to get his attention, knowing that nothing good would come of him firing on the Autobots who were only there to help.

"Captain! Captain Lennox!" No response. "Lennox! Captain Lennox! WILL!"

"What?" he turned and shouted at her.

"Don't shoot! They're friends. They're the Autobots. That semi in the lead is Optimus Prime, he's Bumblebee's commander. They're here to help."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure! I wouldn't stop you if I wasn't!"

He nodded in consent. "Alright. Stand down," he told the soldier in the back. "They're friendlies."

Andi released a great sigh of relief. Turning to her left, she watched as the Autobots passed them by and then proceeded to pull high speed u-turns and fall in line with the military convoy. She righted herself in her seat when she could no longer see Axle out of the back. Lennox and Epps had finished their strategy session and silence reigned for a time before Lennox spoke again. Andi jumped slightly when she realized he was talking to her.

"So, girl." She rolled her eyes.

"It's Andi."

"Right, Andi. So, I'm still interested to know how you kids got involved in all this."

She huffed in annoyance. That question was getting old, and she didn't feel like explaining everything right now. "It's a long and complex story," was all she said. Lennox wouldn't let it go.

"I get that Sam's involvement was seemingly inevitable, given who his great-grandfather was, but what about you girls? Are you just along for the ride?"

Andi sighed. He wasn't gonna drop it. "For Mikaela that's true. Me, not so much."

"Meaning?" Epps joined in.

She cringed in anticipation of their reactions to her next statement. "I may or may not have been housing one of the Autobots in my garage for the past month." Stunned silence.

"You…What?"

Sighing in resignation, she explained. "You saw that blue viper that passed us? His name's Axle. He's been living with me for a month. Yes, I realize I probably should have told someone. Yes, I know it was irresponsible for me not to. No, I'm not sorry. Any other questions?" There were none. The two men seemingly couldn't process the information she had given them. Which was fine with her. She didn't feel like justifying her actions to these men. Not now.

The rest of the ride to Mission City was spent in silence; that is until the Decepticons arrived. They were driving down the highway, heading into the heart of the city when the attack occurred. Andi turned and watched wide-eyed as a large military vehicle transformed and barreled _through_ a city bus.

"Oh my,God." It was all she could say. Seconds later, Optimus transformed as well and turned to face their new adversary head on. The two bots met and clashed together before tumbling over the side of the raised highway to a lower tier. Through all this, the convoy didn't even slow down. If anything, Lennox sped up, in a hurry to find protection within city limits; hoping that the smaller streets and tall buildings would slow down the Decepticons long enough for them to evacuate the cube to a safe place.

Before long, they had entered the city limits, and were navigating their way toward the downtown area of Mission City. Andi noticed then that Lennox was scanning the fronts of the buildings as they went. "What are you looking for?" she asked him.

"Some place to get radios. Keep your eyes open, will ya?"

So she did, and as they moved along she scanned the stores for some type of electronics store or something as such. Then she saw it, ahead of them. Leaning forward over Lennox's shoulder, she pointed up the street. "There. That pawn shop might have something." He nodded and brought the convoy to a stop in front of Rhonda's Pawn Center. Jumping out of the car, he motioned for the rest of the cars to wait as he ran inside to see what he could find. It took several minutes, but eventually a very flustered Lennox exited the shop holding two hand held shortwave radios. They looked ancient.

He entered the car and thrust the radios into Epps arms. "Here, I got shortwave radios."

Andi noted with amusement that Epps looked utterly bewildered as he studied the radios. He looked incredulously over at Will as the car began moving again. "Wait. What am I supposed to do with these?"

"Well, use them! It's all we got!"

Epps frowned as he shot Lennox an annoyed look. "This is like RadioShack dinosaur radios or something, man. I'm only gonna get 20 or 30 miles out of these things." Andi coughed to cover up a laugh. Epps turned the radios on and began speaking into the receiver. "Are there any aircraft orbiting the city?"

Will drove for several more blocks before he found a street that he felt was secure enough to make a stand. He once again brought the convoy to a stop and had his men take up positions around Bumblebee. When the car came to a complete stop, Andi hopped out of the back and immediately made her way towards Axle, who had parked next to Bumblebee. She waved to Sam and Mikaela as she passed, but didn't stop to talk. She reached Axle, placed a hand on his hood, and before she could even open her mouth to talk, he beat her to it.

"Andrea! Are you all right? You're not hurt are you? I was worried." Several soldiers nearby jumped in surprise at the sudden voice coming from the parked blue viper. Andi saw them all take a subtle wary step away from Axle, as they eyed him as if he might possibly eat them at any moment.

She chuckled at their reactions. Smiling she patted Axle's hood before rubbing comforting circles over it. Had he been in his biped form, she would have hugged him. She grinned wider as she felt Axle's engine purring through the hood. She didn't know who was comforted more by the gesture, herself or him. "Hey, big guy. I'm fine. You okay? I was worried about you too."

"I'm better now," he sounded genuinely relieved to see her.

"You would not believe some of the stuff I've seen in the past few hours," she stated as she continued to run her hand over his hood in soothing circles.

"The All Spark?" he questioned.

"Yeah. And Megatron." As they conversed, Andi watched Lennox and his men running to and fro, trying to secure the area. Epps was still sending out commands over his self-proclaimed RadioShack dinosaur radios.

"Megatron? You saw him?" He sounded a lot less concerned than she thought he would be. His voice instead hardened and lacked any emotion. She realized then that she had heard this tone from him once before, when Motorhead had attacked them.

"Yup. He was a giant frozen popsicle at the time, but that was fine with me. He looked scary enough as a popsicle, I didn't need to see him that up close and personal while he was awake. Although, I imagine I'll see him awake soon enough. His cryostasis was failing when we left the dam. If he followed us, he'll be here before long." She shivered slightly at the thought. That was one meeting she would prefer to put off for as long as possible.

Axle didn't reply, but instead rumbled softly beneath her hand in a comforting manner. The rumbling reassured Andi that he was there and would protect her. She smiled in gratitude, and gave him two pats in thanks. It seemed then, that something was about to happen, because Lennox started shouting out orders.

"The Air Force has arrived. Pop smoke." The rangers around Bumblebee popped open green colored smoke-flares. As the green smoke billowed up around her, Andi could hardly see what was going on. She stepped away from Axle, towards Sam and Mikaela, to try and get a better view.

"What now?" Her murmured question seemed to echo through the air as silence encompassed those waiting and watching the skies.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There you go, the beginning of the end. It was difficult to find an ok spot to end this chapter. I didn't want to get into the fighting just yet, so I felt here was the best place to end it. <strong>

**Please review and let me know what you think, or what you would like to see from Andi and Axle in the future! **


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Almost over! Second to last chapter for your enjoyment. Keep an eye out for a few one-shots and the sequel coming to a post near you! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Of Big Explosions and Grudge Matches <strong>

Silence reigned as those present waited within the green smoke for the incoming F-22 to respond to Epps' call. He repeatedly tried to get a response, but none was forth-coming. Andi felt her stomach churn in dread. Something was wrong. But what? Her answer came in the form of Ironhide's yell.

"It's Starscream!" The large bot had transformed and was running forward faster than Andi could blink. "Back up! Take cover! Bumblebee!" Bee transformed and ran to help Ironhide lift a truck with a giant furby on the side up to act as a shield from the oncoming attack. Andi was vaguely aware of Will yelling for everyone to fall back, and Axle yelling for her to take cover. There was an explosion, a rush of heat, the feeling of weightlessness, a sharp pain, and then nothing.

"Andi! Andi! Andrea, wake up! Andi, open your eyes!"

Andi groaned and willed her eyelids to open. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision. She was lying on her back, on the hard concrete, large pieces of debris scattered on the ground around her. Above her, blocking the light from her line of sight, was a large figure, kneeling over her. She squinted trying to make out the details. "Axle?" she croaked. She coughed, clearing her throat and tried again, "Axle."

"Andi, are you alright?" Andi pushed herself up, and grabbed her head when the world tilted slightly on its axis. She flinched when her hand touched her right temple and came away bloody. A piece of debris must have hit her following the explosion. Taking Axle's offered hand, she pulled herself to her feet. Only to stagger slightly and wrap an arm around her ribs, gasping in a pained breathe. The pain in her ribs had returned tenfold, something had to be fractured or broken. She hoped it was the former not the later.

"Andrea!" His other hand went to her back and steadied her as she leaned against him.

Breathing shallowly she steadied herself. "I'm okay, Axle. I'm…I'm fine. It's just a cut and some bruises." Only momentarily did she feel guilty for lying to him. Knowing now was not the time to distract him she braced herself and released her grip. Forcing her body to do as she wanted, she stood up straight and surveyed the damage around her. He didn't leave her side.

All around her, people were pulling themselves up off the ground, which was littered with slabs of concrete and upturned vehicles. The Furby truck was no more; all that was left was some smoldering remains.

A loud roaring sound from down the street drew Andi's attention, and she turned in time to see a large tank bulldoze it's way around a corner and through throngs of screaming people. In an impressive display of acrobatics and explosions, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet went to confront the Tank. Andi expected Axle and Bee to join them, but frowned in confusion when the small yellow bot did not join the fray. She turned to where he had last been standing, and gasped in horror.

"Oh God, Bumblebee. Axle!" Andi jogged as fast as she could towards the pinned Bumblebee and Sam, Axle close behind. She knelt by the sitting Sam, who now held the All Spark in his hands. Axle bent to lift the debris off of what was left of Bee's legs. Bee pulled himself out by the arms, all the while moaning slightly. Andi knelt, lending support to the stricken Sam who refused to leave Bee's side.

"I'm not gonna leave you."

A tow truck approached then, and Andi was surprised when Mikaela jumped out of the cab and began pulling cables from the back of the truck. "Sam, Andi, help me with this."

The three teens went to work, wrapping cables around Bee's chest and shoulders, preparing to haul him up onto the back of the truck. They were in the process of positioning cables when Lennox made his way over to them, calling for Sam.

"Sam! Where's the Cube?" Sam pointed to the Cube sitting on the truck before returning to his work. Lennox called for the Black Hawks before turning talking to Sam once again. "Alright, I can't leave my guys back there, so take this flare. There's a tall, white building with statues on top. Go to the roof. Set the flare."

Sam looked terrified. "No."

"Signal the chopper and set the flare."

Sam shook his head, "No, no! I can't do this!"

Lennox grabbed him roughly by the front of his sweatshirt and pulled him close. "Listen to me! You're a soldier now! All right? I need you to take this Cube. Get it into military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are gonna die." Sam nodded before taking the flare and the Cube and preparing himself to do what he was told.

Lennox turned to the girls and tried to tell them to leave. Mikaela refused. Andi watched as the other girl then jogged towards Sam, calling to him. Deciding to let the two have a moment alone, she turned back to her work.

"Andi, I'll watch Sam. Get Bumblebee out of here and find someplace safe."

She paused in her work and turned to look up at Axle. Meeting his gaze, she nodded in understanding. "Watch out for him, okay? And be careful."

Axle nodded in agreement, "You as well." He turned away then when Ironhide called out for Sam to hurry. Andi watched as Axle ran behind Sam, shooting off the occasional shot from his arm cannon, watching Sam's back. He didn't once look back. Axle was in his element, and she knew there was no time for second glances.

She returned to helping Mikaela hoist Bee up onto the tow truck. There were only a few more wires to connect, and they would be able to get out of there. Lennox approached them once again and started yelling for them to leave.

"Girls, get that tow truck out of here!"

"We're going, we're going!" Mikaela tugged on one last cable, and jumped into the driver's seat. Andi climbed in next to her and soon they were leaving the mayhem behind.

* * *

><p>As Ironhide and Ratchet cleared the path for Sam, Axle paced himself with the boy and protected him from behind. He fired shot after shot at the attacking Decepticons and tried to provide openings for the boy to run when he could. The group had just hit an intersection when he was taken by surprise as a bot rammed into him from the side. The force of the blow sent him flying through the air, and he landed with another heavy metal body covering his own. Looking up, he met the red gaze of a furious Barricade.<p>

Twisting his body, he was able to throw the black Decepticon off of him before he was able to get a shot in. Jumping to a standing position, he faced off with his new opponent. Barricade began firing repeated shots and Axle was forced to dive to the side to avoid being hit. The black bot taunted him as he dodged sure to be fatal attacks.

"Run while you can, Autobot scum. You're not getting away from me! I've a score to settle with you."

Axle fired back, trying to find some way to turn this fight into close range combat, so that he could get close enough to use his blades. He refused to acknowledge the taunting, focusing instead on the fight.

"What, nothing to say? And I'm to believe you're the one that took out Motorhead?"

Axle saw his chance and took it, rushing forward and catching his opponent off guard. He sent the bot stumbling back with a well aimed punch. As Barricade regained his balance, Axle had time to grab his blades off his back and push forward once again. He slashed at his opponent repeatedly, before he was forced to dodge to the side when Barricade got off a shot from his cannon that barely missed Axle's shoulder.

Axle paused for a moment, crouched down behind upturned cars as he reassessed the situation. Barricade continued his approach, and his barrage. Axle waited until he was close enough before diving over the cars covering him, and barreling into Barricade's legs. The black bot went down with a surprised shout, and the two wrestled on the ground, back and forth. Axle threw a multitude of punches, before he was thrown off. The two stood and faced off again. Barricade was able to get one shot off and Axle stumbled back when it glanced off his arm and hit a nearby building. Pissed, Axle charged once again, and made to slash at Barricade across his chest, but at the last possible moment, dropped his blade, transformed his arm cannon, and blasted Barricade point blank in the chest.

The black bot flew backwards through the air and landed in a heap on the street behind him. The close contact hit had dazed him and all but rendered him immobile. Axle watched as Barricade twitched and moaned, sparks flying from his damaged chest plates. Axle stood ready, waiting for Barricade to stand and come at him once again. But instead of attacking him, Axle watched surprised as Barricade transformed into his alt. mode and quickly drove away.

* * *

><p>Mikaela pulled the tow truck into an alley off of the main street where most of the fighting was happening. Andi could still hear the blasts coming from behind them, but for the moment at least, they were out of harms way. Glancing over to the younger girl, she frowned in concern when she noticed that Mikaela was shaking and breathing heavily. She watched as the girl leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. Placing a gentle hand on the girls arm, she tried to offer what comfort she could.<p>

Mikaela looked up and smiled slightly, "Thanks."

"It's alright. Are you okay?"

Mikaela nodded before turning to look back at Bee, who met her gaze. The two seemed to be in silent conversation, because when Mikaela turned back around, she no longer looked frightened, but determined. She pushed the truck into gear and turned in her seat. "Hold on," she told Andi, before yelling back to Bee. "I'll drive, you shoot." And then they were of, flying backwards out of the alley and onto the destroyed street.

Andy grabbed the dash in front of her, holding on for dear life as Mikaela drove erratically down the street. "Oh shit, oh shit," she couldn't hold back the mumbled mantra. One arm wrapped around her ribs when they flew over a slab of concrete and were jolted in their seats. She turned in her seat and watched as Bee blasted away at the now transformed tank in the distance. She could see Lennox and his men blasting at the Decepticon from behind the remaining brick walls of a now destroyed café. Bee's shots became more and more accurate the closer they got to the scene, and soon the blasts were pushing the tank back. Then, with one final blast, Bee hit the Decepticon in the center of the chest, right over his spark, a killing blow. The Decepticon fell and moved no more.

Mikaela drove up to the scene and the two girls exited the truck as Lennox and his men exited the building. Andi looked up at Bee and tilted an imaginary hat at him, "Nice shootin', Tex." He nodded back at her, and she continued onward towards Lennox.

"That tank is definitely dead now," Epps said as he examined the fallen bot.

Lennox took stock of the situation, and turned when he heard explosions in the distance. "Alright, let's go! We got business!" He turned to Andi and Mikaela and leveled them with a stern look. "You girls are to stay back this time. Got me?" The two nodded reluctantly, before watching as Lennox and his men headed off towards the main conflict.

"What now?" Mikaela asked.

Andi shrugged. "We follow from a distance and stay out of their way." The other girl nodded before reentering the cab of the truck and carefully driving it away.

* * *

><p>Axle watched as Barricade retreated and was pondering pursuing him when a pain-filled roar filled the air. It sounded like Megatron. Axle made an about turn and headed back in the direction that Sam had been running towards. By the time he reached the scene, the fight was over. Optimus was standing above Megatron, staring forlornly down at the fallen bot.<p>

Axle couldn't believe it. Megatron was dead, and by the looks of it, it had ironically been the All Spark that had dealt the final blow. He watched as Optimus gently picked a piece of melted metal out of Megatron's chest, all that was left of the All Spark. His attention shifted, however, when he noticed a figure sprinting towards him. Andi.

* * *

><p>The fighting had ended by the time that Andi, Mikaela, and Bee had arrived at the now crowded intersection. Lennox and his men were standing at the ready when the girls pulled up, staring at the sight before them. Optimus was standing over Megatron, gazing down at the dead bot. Sam was next to him, but turned towards the girls as they approached with Bee on the truck. But the figure which immediately drew Andi's attention was an unharmed Axle, who had entered the scene from a street to the right of Optimus.<p>

Andi hopped out of the truck and didn't hesitate to run past Lennox and his men, Sam, Optimus, and the dead Megatron, to Axle, who had knelt and was waiting with arms open to catch her when she launched herself at him. Wrapping her arms as far around his neck as possible she held tightly as he lifted her off the ground, standing with her tucked against his chest.

"You okay?" she whispered into his neck.

He nodded and gently squeezed her in reassurance. "I am unharmed."

She winced slightly as her ribs protested but ignored them in favor of nuzzling her face into his chest. She sighed in relief before pulling away slightly and grinning at him. "Good." She frowned then, when she saw Ratchet and Ironhide walk up behind Axle. In Ironhide's arms was Jazz, a severely damaged Jazz. Andi feared for a moment that he might be dead. She turned back to Optimus when he addressed Sam.

"Sam, I owe you my life. We are in your debt." Andi smiled. She was proud of Sam, he was a hero; had potentially saved the world. Her smile faded when Ironhide moved towards Optimus, with Jazz in his arms.

"Prime, we don't know if we can save him."

Ratchet moved forward. "I'll see what I can do, but it will take time."

Optimus nodded in understanding and held up the small remaining sliver of the All Spark. "Perhaps this will be of assistance."

Andi released a breath she hadn't known she was holding. There was a chance Jazz would be okay. That was a relief. She silently promised that she would do anything she could to help.

Optimus turned to the humans around him. "We have gained new comrades today. Thank you, all of you. You honor us with your bravery."

Bumblebee spoke then, and Andi was surprised to find that it was not in a sound bite from the radio. "Permission to speak, sir." It seemed Optimus was surprised as well.

"Permission granted, old friend."

Sam turned to Bee in surprise. "You speak now?"

Bee turned to him. "I wish to stay with the boy."

"If that is his choice."

Sam gazed at Bee before nodding. "Yes."

Andi turned her head to look at Axle then. She hadn't even thought about what would happen when the fighting was over. The possibility that Axle would leave hadn't even crossed her mind. Her heart clenched slightly at the very idea. He couldn't leave. Leaning forward, she rested her head against his own. He turned his head slightly so that their gazes locked.

"Stay with me?" she whispered.

"As long as you want me to."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Always."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Tada! This chapter was a beast to write. Lots of activity to follow. Anyway, I think it turned out nicely. All that's left is the epilogue and then Axles and Hackers shall be complete. Please, let me know what you think, and what you would like to see in the future!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Here it is, the final installment of 'Axles and Hackers.' I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! I hope you have all enjoyed the story and will like the final chapter. Stay tuned, the continued adventures of Andi and Axle in the form of several oneshots and a sequel will be posted soon. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by my two OC's and any changes to the plot of the movie you don't recognize.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: Epilogue<strong>

The bluff over looking Tranquility was currently experiencing more visitors than it had had in a long time. Optimus was standing near the edge of the cliff, looking up into the sky, contemplating the future, as Andi assumed only he could. Ironhide was parked in his alt. mode, sleeping, if that really was the occasional rumbled snore she was hearing. Ratchet was nowhere to be seen, he was currently working his aft off trying to repair Jazz. Sam and Mikaela were busy making out on, a fully recovered, Bee's hood. Andi chuckled as she imagined poor Bee wanting to pop his top and flip them off, but not doing so because he didn't want to hurt the two humans he cared so much for. Andi and Axle had taken up their usual position, she leaning against his outstretched legs, he leaning against a small outcropping of rocks. However, this time, it was his hand gently resting against her stomach instead of her laptop. There was plenty of work to do, but today was about rest and relaxation, nothing else.

The events following the 'Battle for the Cube,' as Andi had inwardly dubbed that fateful day one week ago, seemed no more than a blur now that the group finally had a chance to rest.

Immediately following the battle, the military had swooped in and shuffled everyone present, both bot and human, away. Andi and the other humans who had been directly involved in the fight for the cube were taken back to the nearest military base, which happened to be Nellis Air Force Base, and underwent a long debriefing of the situation. The other civilian eyewitnesses were told that all the damage was sustained during a small earthquake, which ruptured a gas line, which lead to mass hallucinations. Andi had snorted when she had first been told that excuse, finding it hard to believe that anyone would ever believe it.

The caravan of Autobots, the tow trucks carrying Bee and Jazz, and the military vehicles had pulled into an empty bunker where they were met by Secretary Keller, what remained of Sector Seven, and Glen and Maggie. The remains of the destroyed Decepticons were being transported to a secure location for the time being until it was decided on what would happen to them. When the caravan came to a stop, Andi, who had ridden with Axle, released a relieved breathe when she caught sight of Glen and Maggie. After the fighting had ended, she had been worried about the two, wondering if they were all right.

She exited out of the drivers seat and soon found herself caught up in a hug from Glen. She winced but readily hugged him back.

"Damn, girl. You look like shit. You alright?"

She smiled at him and the approaching Maggie after he set her down. "Gee, thanks Glen. But yeah, I'm okay. Might have busted a few ribs, but I'll live. Nothing a few band-aids and a nice shower won't fix. How about you two? You good?"

Maggie smiled and nodded while Glen began animatedly retelling what had happened back at the dam. "Shit, girl, you would not believe what came after us. Some freaky little mini robot was shooting ninja stars and shit at us. It was insane."

"Well, you survived, so I assume you got rid of it."

Maggie shrugged. "The last we saw it was laying on the floor in the archive room. After we signaled the planes, we didn't hang around. We've actually been at the base for a little while now."

Andi frowned but didn't comment on the fact that she thought they should have at least made sure the Decepticon was dead before they took off. Axle had told her about his fight with Barricade on their way to the base, and that he had driven off right as Megatron had been destroyed. Axle was convinced that they wouldn't see the renegade bot any time soon, for he was badly damaged, but he was also sure that eventually Barricade would be back. The idea that Frenzy, Barricades partner, could also be still alive was disheartening at best. On top of that, the Autobots had realized that the Decepticon Starscream had also disappeared. Though from the way that they spoke of the Decepticon, the Autobots were not in the least bit surprised that Starscream would have deserted his comrades.

Her attention was brought back to the conversation at hand when she realized Glen had stopped talking and was peering over her shoulder at something. Frowning, she turned and realized he was looking at Axle. She smiled slightly. Time for introductions.

"That your car?"

Turning to Axle, Andi walked back to him and placed a hand on his hood before turning back to Glen and Maggie. "Glen, Maggie, this is Axle. The one I told you about. Axle, these are my friends Glen and Maggie. Glen's a hacker like me and Maggie analyzes signals for the government."

"It is a pleasure meeting you," Axle voiced. Andi smothered a laugh when Glen jumped in surprise.

"You too," Maggie smiled. Before they could talk any longer, the three humans were approached by Lennox who had come to gather them for the debriefing session. Reassuring Axle that she would see him soon, Andi followed the other humans as they were lead out of the bunker and into the base itself.

The following four hours were spent in a room sitting in uncomfortable chairs as they were debriefed and given details of what would happen now that the Autobots were staying on Earth. While the technical details of the Autobots' stay would be discussed with Optimus, it was agreed upon during the debriefing that for now, the best way for the bots to stay hidden would be for them to hide in plain sight as they had already been doing. It was also decided that the humans who had been directly involved with the Autobots should expect to be monitored by the government as they acted as liaisons with the bots.

Following the meeting, Andi and the others were allowed time to clean themselves up and then be examined by the bases medical examiners. They were given bandages for their cuts and ointments for their bruises and scrapes. Andi had also had to get several stitches on her forehead where she had been injured by the flying concrete. She had been lucky not to suffer from any form of concussion, but she had been told to expect headaches for the next few days. As well as the stitches she was informed following a quick x-ray that she had indeed fractured three ribs and was promptly given a pain killer and had her ribs wrapped.

By the time all the meetings and examinations were finished, it was evening already, and it was decided that everyone would spend the night at the base and return home the following morning. Before going to sleep, the teens had returned to the bunker to check in with Optimus and the others. When they arrived, they found Ratchet hard at work repairing Bee's legs, a broken Jazz lying on the bed of a truck waiting to be moved to a location which Ratchet would be able to better work on him, while Optimus was in discussion with the Sec Def. Ironhide and Axle were transformed and sitting and talking with Lennox, Epps, and their men. The teens broke off and went in different directions. Sam and Mikaela went to check on Bee, and Andi headed towards Axle and Ironhide.

Lennox and his men had also been patched up, and though tired, they seemed to be enjoying their chat with the bots. Lennox was the first to notice Andi's arrival.

"Hey, girl. How are you doing?" Andi rolled her eyes as the captain once again refused to use her real name, but smiled despite herself.

"Once again, Captain Lennox, my name is Andi; and I'm doing fine, thank you." Looking up at Axle and Ironhide she grinned. "Hey, Ironhide, Axe. You guys doing okay?" The two nodded and Axle leaned forward and offered his hand for her to sit down on. She obliged and soon found herself sitting on his thigh, leaning back against his chest, one of his hands keeping her in place.

Epps was grinning cheekily up at her from his place next to Lennox. "Comfortable?"

She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the man. "Very much, thank you."

Conversation continued for a while. Eventually Sam and Mikaela, followed closely by Optimus and the Sec Def, joined the group. Andi was content to sit back and listen, speaking only when directly asked a question. She soon learned that Optimus and Secretary Keller had come to an agreement about what would happen to the Autobots since they were now going to be staying on Earth. Keller had agreed to petition on their behalf for a base to be built that the bots and possibly humans could operate out of. The details would be worked out later, but when it was finished, the bots already on earth and those heading this way would have a place where they could live without fear of detection.

At some point the pain killer began to kick in and Andi was soon lost to the world. The next thing she remembered was being shaken by Axle who told her to go to bed. She vaguely recalled telling him goodnight and then slowly making her way with the others to their beds for the night.

The following day, the teens had returned home. Glen and Maggie got on a jet with Secretary Keller, who spoke with Andi briefly before he departed and told her to expect to hear from him within the next few days. Epps and Lennox's other men had departed next, telling their Captain they would see him soon before leaving. Andi was surprised when Lennox informed the teens that he would be traveling most of the way with them in Ironhide, his own home only several hours away from Tranquility.

The caravan of Autobots left then and hours later Andi and Axle found themselves driving up her driveway and entering their garage. Andi was both relieved and disappointed to see that her parents had not yet returned home from their current business trip. The trip home had taken most of the day, and both found themselves exhausted upon arrival. Agreeing to meet with the others the next day, Andi trudged upstairs to her room.

Upon entering, she scowled at the mess the feds had left behind after they ransacked her room. The place was a mess, and as she had figured they would, they had taken her monitor, the shell for her hard drive, and all her other electronic devices from her desk. She made a mental note to ask Keller when he contacted her to get her things back. She was pleased to note, however, that the base of her bed did not look like it had been moved. Crawling under, she removed the floorboard she had hidden her hard drive and lap top under and smiled cheerfully when she found her babies still there. Knowing that the main house was probably also a mess and that she would have a lot of work to do before her parents got home, Andi set her alarm and promptly fell asleep.

The rest of the week was filled with cleaning, meetings, and explanations when her parents returned home to find their daughter injured and their house a mess. Andi was just glad that she hadn't had to tell them everything that had happened, knowing that they would have freaked out. Instead, Secretary Keller had one of his representatives speak with them and inform her parents that she was not in any form of trouble, but was instead now working for the government. Which was another new development. Her parents were also not informed about the Autobots, and Andi had been told not to tell them anything for the time being.

Her new job opportunity had presented itself when, several days after she returned home, she received a call from Secretary Keller himself. He had offered her a job working in tandem with Glen and Maggie who were still acting as his advisers in D.C. While Glen and Maggie began working on a database containing information about the Autobots, Andi would be working on updating the government's firewalls to prevent any future attacks from alien robots. It was also decided that when the future base was being constructed, she would help with the installation of the computer systems therein and eventually help with the maintenance and running of said system. Andi was only all too happy to accept the job offer.

Now, a week after the 'Battle for the Cube' Andi found herself finally able to sit back and relax. It was a feeling which she knew would not last long, but while it did she would relish it. Stretching her arms above her head, she released a content noise when she felt her back crack before leaning back onto Axle's leg. All was right in the world. The battle had ended in their favor, Axle and the Autobots were staying on Earth, Sam and Mikaela were dating, Andi had a new job, Jazz was being repaired, more Autobots should be arriving within the next few months, and Bumblebee was starting to fidget uncomfortably under the kissing Sam and Mikaela.

_Wait. What?_

She was right. Bee was rolling very slightly back and forth on his wheels. The movement was so subtle that the two teens on top of him did not notice. Very slowly, his side windows rolled down. Seconds later, an unrecognizable guitar riff and drum beat blasted through Bee's speakers followed closely by a blast from his horn. The two teens yelled out in surprise and proceeded to roll off of Bee's hood, landing on the ground in a tangled heap. Andi didn't even try to stifle her laughter.

Oh yeah, all was right in the world.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The End…::sniff:: My baby's all grown and left the nest. Keep an eye out for future stories to be posted soon. I'll send an update out on this story when the sequel is posted so those watching or faving this one can find the next. ^^ Thank you all for sticking with me for this one and hope to see you all at the next. Later!<strong>


	17. Authors Note

Authors Note:

This is just an update to let everyone who has watched or favorited this story know that the first chapter of its' sequel is now posted. Head on over and check it out. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

-Cyberbird


End file.
